“Football is the ultimate team sport and it takes everybody. Everybody plays a role, I’m just so proud of this whole team and again, just blessed to be a part of it.”
These were the words of Tampa Bay Buccaneers savior Tom Brady – words he’s repeated often this season to a chorus of groans and eye-rolls on the other end of muted media microphones hoping for a juicier quote. It is cliche-filler to be sure, but it’s also 100 percent accurate, and its’ embodiment has never been more evident than in this Bucs team.
Sure, if we’re dividing up credit into chunks, Brady gets the biggest without question. What he’s done on the season is incredible enough – over 4,500 passing yards, 43 total touchdowns, limited turnovers and limited sacks in a Bruce Arians’ offense that typically produces a lot of both thanks to the aggressive nature of the passing attack – but what he’s doing in the playoffs? Completely nuts.