Tom Brady hits 100,000 passing yards, leads last-minute comeback: "That was f---ing awesome"
BOSTON -- Tom Brady owns just about every record there is to own in the NFL record books. His status as the greatest quarterback of all time has long been established.
Yet the 45-year-old reached a nice, round number on Sunday that helps drive home that fact, as he topped 100,000 passing yards.
Brady reached that milestone, though, in the midst of what was shaping up to be a frustrating evening in Tampa. The quarterback topped 100,000 career passing yards -- he entered Sunday with 86,787 regular-season yards and 13,049 postseason yards -- on a dump-off to running back Leonard Fournette on third-and-20 while trailing 13-6, a pass that was mostly made to try to shorten the Buccaneers' field-goal attempt.
That field goal was good, but it only cut the Rams' lead over the Bucs to 13-9 with 8:03 left in the fourth quarter. Later in the fourth quarter, Brady hit an open Scotty Miller in the end zone, only for the receiver to drop what could have been the game-winning touchdown.
Scotty Miller with a chance to take the lead with 2 minutes to play ohhhh noooooooooooooo pic.twitter.com/PYZPhzJfHf
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) November 7, 2022
That drive ended on a turnover on downs, and the Bucs' hopes to improve to 4-5 on the season appeared dim.
Yet the Bucs' defense came up with a defensive stop, giving the ball back to Brady with 44 seconds left at the Bucs' 40-yard line and with no timeouts.
From there, Brady did what he's done so many times before, calmly leading his team to a last-minute victory.
Brady quickly went 3-for-4 for 39 yards, with the lone incompletion being a spike. On second-and-3 from the 7-yard line, Mike Evans drew a pass interference penalty in the end zone. And on the next snap, Brady hit Cade Otton for a 1-yard touchdown to take the lead with 9 seconds left to play.
The extra point was good, and 16-13 held as the final score.
44 seconds and no timeouts. @TomBrady's 55th career game-winning drive. #LARvsTB pic.twitter.com/mIdMRCMMpz
— NFL (@NFL) November 7, 2022
Just another Sunday for @TomBrady
— NFL (@NFL) November 7, 2022
🐐 43rd 4th-quarter comeback ties Peyton Manning for the most all-time
🐐 55th game-winning drive is now the most in NFL history (Manning, 54)
🐐 First player in NFL History with 100k passing yards (inc. playoffs) pic.twitter.com/1mArgSyBtX
After the game, Brady -- who had just won a game for the 282nd time of his career -- summed things up succinctly.
"That was awesome," Brady said. "That was f---ing awesome."
Well said, #TomBrady pic.twitter.com/jrAk2Oe7q0
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) November 7, 2022
When asked about reaching 100,000 yards, Brady dismissed the accomplishment.
"It's all about the win, so ... it's all about the win, man," Brady said. "Yeah, never cared about that. It's all about the win."
Brady finished the game having completed 36 of his 58 passes (62.1 percent) for 280 yards with the one touchdown and no interceptions. At 4-5 on the year, it obviously hasn't been a tremendous season for Brady and the Bucs, who carried Super Bowl expectations into the season. Sunday evening looked to be the latest addition to a season of disappointment.
Yet in that final minute, Brady proved that even at age 45, he still can't be counted out until the very end.