Tom Brady and the Reliable Tampa Bay Buccaneers

He’s played in more postseason games than anyone in NFL annals. He’s reached the Super Bowl 10 times as a starting quarterback. He has more championship rings (7) than the universe has Infinity Stones (6).

But Tom Brady is hardly a “Thanos” and had proven to be an “Iron Man” when it comes to the NFL postseason. He and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking to become the first franchise since Brady and Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots captured Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX in 2003 and ’04.

With last week’s 31-15 wild card win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Bucs have now won five consecutive postseason games dating back to last year’s championship run. And it’s hard to imagine a team being more consistent in terms of putting points on the board than Brady and Bruce Arians’ club.

Rock Steady

During last year’s wild card playoff run, the Buccaneers scored 31, 30, 31, and 31 points, respectively. That came in victories over the Washington Football Team, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, and Kansas City Chiefs. In last Sunday’s wild card win over the visiting Eagles, Bruce Arians’ team came up with (you guessed it) a 31-15 victory.

This Sunday, the Bucs have a rematch with the Los Angeles Rams. Back in Week 3 at SoFi Stadium, Arians’ team came up short via a 34-24 score. It was the second straight year that Sean McVay’s team beat the Buccaneers. This time it was with Matthew Stafford at quarterback. A year ago, Jared Goff was at the controls.

But back to Brady and the Bucs’ postseason offense under his command. He’s thrown at least two touchdown passes in each of the five outings. He’s not been intercepted in four of those contests, combining for 10 TD tosses and three picks. All of the interceptions came in the second half of the 2020 NFC title game at Green Bay.

The Tampa offensive unit, with Arians and coordinator Byron Leftwich, scored three touchdowns vs. Washington and New Orleans and four TDs vs. the Packers, Chiefs and Eagles.

That’s quite a streak. And they’ve played turnover-free football in 17 of those 20 quarters. When you can consistently put points on the board and take care of the football, that’s a tough combination to stop.