TC Martin

Brady at his Finest as Bucs Rout Raiders 

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Who said Tom Brady was washed up and had seen his best days?  Not anyone who saw his amazing performance Sunday against the overmatched Las Vegas Raiders.  Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a dominating 45-20 victory before an empty Allegiant stadium whjere he certainly looked like vintage Tom Brady. 

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This was one of Brady's all time great performances.  No, it wasn't a Super Bowl win but it was a masterpiece in the sense he led, directed and carved up a Raiders defense who had limited Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes while defeating both the Saints and Chiefs weeks prior. 

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Brady connected on 33 of 45 passes for 369 yards with four touchdowns and even rushed for another.  More importantly he is weaving a story of the eldest quarterback in the NFL trying to lead his new team to the Super Bowl in his first year at the age of 43.  

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The Bucs improved to 5-2 and are looking the part of real Super Bowl contenders.  Last week the demolished Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers where they played a near perfect game and they did the same Sunday versus the Raiders.

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Much of the talk this past week was the Raiders being without Trent Brown, their gifted offensive tackle who tested positive for COVID-19 and the possibility that the entire starting offensive line may not play.  They did after several negative tests the past three days.  The Raiders were coming off an impressive victory over Kansas City but the inconsistencies of the team reared its ugly head again.

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After cutting the lead to 24-20, Brady and the Bucs scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.   This game wasn't about the Raiders faults or mistakes, it was about Brady and what an amazing player and leader he is.  He obviously isn't done yet.