Sunday was a tale of two halves for Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They were dominant in their matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half, jumping out to a 17-0 lead as they were playing great in every facet of the game. But, the tides turned after the teams came out of the locker room for the second half as the Buccaneers did everything they could to give the game away.
The Buccaneers received the second-half kickoff, putting them in a prime position to really bury the Bengals. Tampa Bay had surrendered a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, but they had an opportunity to swing all of the momenta back in their favor. It is safe to say they failed to capitalize on that chance.
Tampa Bay went three and out on the opening drive of the second half, punctuated by a failed fake punt on fourth down. That set the Bengals up at the Tampa Bay 16, but the defense was able to do its job and held Cincinnati to a 21-yard field goal. That ended up being the beginning of the end for the Buccaneers.
On their ensuing drive, Tom Brady threw an interception to Trey Flowers, setting the Bengals up once again in a position to get points. This time, Joe Burrow and their offense were able to convert thanks to some help from the Tampa Bay defense.
On 4th and 3, the Buccaneers sacked Burrow for a 26-yard loss. But, the play was wiped out because of a defensive holding call on Lavonte David that was unnecessary as Burrow was already scrambling for his life when the foul occurred. Three plays later after another fourth down was forced, Carlton Davis committed a facemask penalty, keeping the drive alive again for Burrow to find Tee Higgins for a five-yard touchdown.
Still holding a 17-12 lead, Brady once again turned the ball over. This time it was on a sack by Logan Wilson, as Troy Reader knocked the ball out before Brady hit the ground. Once again Cincinnati was set up for easy points at the Tampa Bay 13 and Burrow would find Tyler Boyd for a three-yard touchdown.
The wheels were all the way off by this point as another Brady fumble occurred on the following drive as he mishandled a snap. Reader was involved again, recovering the fumble that the Bengals converted into another touchdown. Now trailing 27-17, Brady threw another interception.
That marked four turnovers in the game for the future Hall of Famer, which tied a career-high for turnovers in a game. The last time he had that many were in 2011 when playing for the New England Patriots.
It was certainly an unexpected turn of events for the Buccaneers, who were cruising. But, they were unable to stop the bleeding in the second half as one miscue led to another and eventually it snowballed out of control.
The Bengals would eventually come away with a 34-23 victory, winning their sixth consecutive game to improve their record to 10-4 and take over sole possession of the AFC North. Tampa Bay dropped to 6-8 but they still hold onto first place in the NFC South as the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons are all tied at 5-9.
Having a quarterback like Tom Brady leading the way certainly gives the Buccaneers a good chance to end up winning the division and squeaking into the playoffs.
