With 42 seconds left in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ divisional round playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday, Bucs running back Leonard Fournette scored a touchdown from nine yards out. That put the score at 27-27, and gave the Bucs a most impressive comeback from a 27-3 deficit halfway through the third quarter. At that point, everybody assumed that Tom Brady was going to do his usual Tom Brady thing, and the Bucs were going to progress in their quest to Run it Back.
Then, Matthew Stafford did a new Matthew Stafford thing, driving his Rams down the field, Matt Gay kicked a game-winning 30-yard field goal as time expired, and just like that, Tampa Bay’s season was over.
Right after that, the futures of Brady and longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski were questioned. Would Brady come back for his age 45 NFL season, and would Gronk follow?
