Tom Brady Snubbed in Buccaneers Win Over Saints

Tom Brady

Getty Tom Brady.

Tom Brady got the cold shoulder as he secured a 30-20 victory for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans on Sunday in the NFC Divisional Round.

Brady got denied a high-five by an official following a fourth quarter touchdown, reminiscent of past experiences for the star quarterback as NESN’s Zack Cox noted via Twitter.

Brady has missed on high-fives before in his career, as CBS Boston’s Michael Hurley reported. The Tampa Bay Rays had a little fun with the latest incident.

Brady didn’t dwell on the snub immediately after the game in an interview on Fox, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

Brady left the Superdome on a much higher note than his last trip when the Bucs dropped the season opener to the Saints. The Bucs snapped a five-game losing streak to the Saints with Sunday’s win.

“It’s a lot better feeling sitting in this (interview) tent this time around than it was 18 weeks ago,” Brady said in the postgame press conference.


Title Game 14

Brady will reach his 14th conference championship game as his team advances to next Sunday’s NFC Championship game at Green Bay. That’s double the next-best quarterback, Joe Montana, per NFL Research.

Brady did his part with 199 yards passing and two touchdowns plus one rushing. He had rounds of help as Bucs running backs amassed 125 rushing yards and the defense turned over the Saints three times. The Bucs offensive line slowed down Saints defensive end Cam Jordan, who called out Brady before Sunday’s game.

“I’m just so proud of everyone,” Brady said. “We worked really hard to get to this point. There’s four teams left (and) we’re one of them.”


Godwin Called Out

Bucs rookie wide receiver Tyler Johnson making a highlight-worthy grab led to ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith calling out Bucs star receiver Chris Godwin.

Godwin dropped a potential go-ahead touchdown late in the first half, a week after having drops in the Wild Card Round. He dropped three passes overall against the Saints. He finished with four catches for 34 yards, which included a third-down grab during a game-sealing drive.

Johnson also came up huge on a third-down in the Bucs’ go-ahead scoring drive. The rookie from Minnesota caught his lone target of the night.


Chasing Former Bucs QB

Brady’s rushing touchdown that sealed the Bucs win puts him within a score of tying former Bucs quarterback and Hall-of-Famer Steve Young, Buccaneers Communications reported.

Young scored those touchdowns for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1990s in extending that team’s dynasty after the Bucs traded him away.

Brady, who doesn’t run as often as Young did, used his legs against the Saints. He converted a fourth down in the first half on a quarterback sneak in addition to the goal-line touchdown run.


Bucs Linebacker Injured

A Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker went down with an injury and will not return for the rest of the game Sunday at New Orleans.

Jack Cichy injured his left elbow during a punt return, according to NFL Network’s James Palmer on Twitter.

Cichy would not return to the game, as ESPN’s Jenna Laine confirmed.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians confirmed the severity of the injury in the postgame press conference, per The Athletic’s Greg Auman, saying Cichy broke his arm.

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