Getty Tom Brady relishes Mike Evans' touchdown grab on Sunday at Dallas.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady really wants Mike Evans‘ one-handed touchdown grab immortalized.
Evans reached to grab Brady’s 5-yard pass in a scoring play that went viral amid the Bucs’ 19-3 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, September 11. Images and video of Evans’ fading, one-handed catch have been circulating the web heavily ever since. Digital isn’t enough in Brady’s mind though.
“There’s gotta be a wall in the facility where we can do an oil painting of this,” Brady shared on Instagram.
Brady expressed his appreciation of Evans’ playmaking ability near the end zone. The two stars connected five times for 71 yards, including Brady’s 20-yard pass to Evans.
“It’s awesome,” Brady told the media on Sunday, September 11. “He’s as dependable as they come. He’s a great player. Tough; hard nosed. So tall, long and dynamic. I love being out there with him.”
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles sees the craftsmanship of Evans’ playmaking as one of a kind.
“It’s rare. I mean, he’s got great hands,” Bowles told reporters on Monday, September 12. “He does one-handed catches all the time, you can look at it all the time. He practices those things. He’s got great height, he’s got a great feel for the game, he’s got great chemistry with Tom [Brady] and they make those type of plays happen.”
NFL Films fittingly dubbed Evans’ touchdown “a work of art” and set the slow-motion video of the play to classical music overture.
A work of art 🎨
Brady on Julio Jones’ Big Performance
New Bucs wide receiver Julio Jones also made a big, highlight-reel play in his debut.
Brady found Jones on a 48-yard deep shot, and Jones hauled it in as he tumbled to the ground. Jones finished with three receptions for 69 yards, plus two rushes for 17 yards.
“[He] made a huge catch on the go route. He caught a curl route [too], which was pretty good,” Brady said. “I missed him on a slant early. It was a bad throw. I have a lot of confidence in him. We’re just going to keep growing and getting better. He’s a true professional. I love playing with a guy like Julio.”
TOM BRADY 48-YARD DIME TO JULIO JONES 🔥
(via @NFL)
Brady Gets Stumped?
Brady didn’t have a definitive answer when asked whether it was the Cowboys defense or Bowles’ coaching philosophy that led him to throw only 27 passes on Sunday. Brady averaged 42.29 passes per game last year.
“Not sure,” Brady said. “I think we love to throw the ball less and control the game and run the ball and play great defense and get turnovers and don’t get turnovers.”
Brady added that he liked seeing the team’s success running the ball, plus the defense holding the Cowboys to three points. The Bucs rushed for 152 yards on 33 carries as a team, led by running back Leonard Fournette, who had 127 yards on 21 carries. The Bucs defense shut down the Cowboys offense, allowing 244 total yards and sacking the quarterback four times.
“It was great,” Brady said of the Bucs going to the ground. “The run game, defense, that’ll win you a lot of games in the NFL. Very happy to see the line play the way they played; the backs, wide receivers made a lot of great plays.”