It’s time for Scott Reynolds’ 2-Point Conversion postgame column, which features two statements, two questions and two predictions based on the latest Bucs game.

Tampa Bay improved to 12-4 on the season with an improbable comeback in a 28-24 win over the Jets at MetLife Stadium. The Bucs trailed until Tom Brady connected with Cyril Grayson, Jr. on a 33-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left. Grayson replaced Antonio Brown, who had a sideline outburst and left the game in the third quarter after a heated discussion with head coach Bruce Arians. The Bucs defense really struggled, allowing the Jets to run for 150 yards and put up 24 despite New York missing several starters on offense.

2 BIG STATEMENTS

STATEMENT 1: Brady, Grayson Lead Bucs’ Miracle At MetLife

As much as I want to talk about Antonio Brown, he’s yesterday’s news.

Literally.

I’ve never seen a player go from hero to villain status as fast as Brown did in the third quarter of Tampa Bay’s 28-24 come-from-behind victory when he quit on the team. I’ll save the AB discussion for a few paragraphs down this column.

In the meantime, let’s talk about a real hero – Bucs wide receiver Cyril Grayson, Jr.

I’ve been as critical as anyone about the Bucs’ Grayson experiment. Grayson was a track star at LSU, but didn’t play football for the Tigers. In fact, Grayson only played football in high school. But the Bucs were enamored with his sprinter speed and wanted to see if they could turn him into a football player.

Bucs WR Cyril Grayson – Photo by: USA Today

By the way, Grayson is no spring chicken. He’s not a young project. He just turned 28 years old on December 5. He’s been trying to stick in the NFL since 2017 when he signed with Seattle.

Yet the Bucs did what the Seahawks (2017), Colts (2017), Seahawks again (2017-18), Texans (2018), Bears (2018-19), Saints (2019) and Cowboys (2019) failed to do – be patient with Grayson and let him develop.

This is Grayson’s third season with the Bucs. He’s spent the vast majority of his time in Tampa Bay on the practice squad and improving behind the scenes. The coaches rave about his work ethic and call him the most improved player on the team.

The 5-foot-9, 183-pound Grayson was active for two games at the end of the 2019 season when the Bucs lost Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Scotty Miller to hamstring injuries. He caught one pass for three yards during that stretch.

Grayson was active for three games last year, but didn’t post a catch on any of his three targets from Tom Brady. One of those passes from Brady infamously bounced off his face mask in a Week 2 win against Carolina in 2020.

He’s come a long way since then.

Grayson entered Sunday’s game against the Jets with just five career catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. That score was a 50-yard TD catch at New Orleans earlier in the season.

On Sunday, the speedy receiver had six catches for 81 yards, including the 33-yard game winning score with 15 seconds left. Grayson had 81 yards on three catches last week at Carolina. He had 81 yards again on Sunday.

What was Brown’s number – 81?

Oh yeah, that’s right.

Something very cosmic happened at MetLife Stadium.

While Brown was busy quitting on the Bucs in the third quarter, his absence created a new hero – Grayson – in the fourth quarter. Brady was 7-of-9 for 93 yards on Tampa Bay’s final drive. He targeted Tyler Johnson four times and Grayson five times.

No targets for Evans or Rob Gronkowski. They were busy getting double covered, which freed up Johnson and Grayson to receive single coverage.

Grayson wound up catching four passes for 52 yards on the Bucs’ game-winning drive and a star was born. Without Godwin and Brown down the stretch, Tampa Bay will need Grayson’s newfound star power to continue to shine bright for Brady.

STATEMENT 2: AB – The Scorpion

It was bound to happen. At some point in time Antonio Brown was going to be become … Antonio Brown again.

Tampa Bay loved the Hall of Fame ability that Brown had as a wide receiver on the field. The Bucs were 21-7 with him on the roster, including last year’s postseason. Tampa Bay was 15-3 in games Brown actually played in, including a 7-0 record in games this season.

But the Bucs were wary of the mercurial sideshow that travels with Brown wherever he goes – from Pittsburgh to Oakland to Tampa – and survived it (barely) for over a year with AB on the roster.

Former Bucs WR Antonio Brown – FOX

The Bucs were crossing their fingers that the continued nurturing by head coach Bruce Arians and quarterback Tom Brady – along with several of Brown’s former Steelers teammates like offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and outside linebackers coach Larry Foote – would be enough to keep Brown’s volatility in check. But it wasn’t.

A week after he returned from a three-game suspension to catch 10 passes for 101 yards at Carolina, the clock ran out on the ticking time bomb that is AB. The guy that was famous for saying he was ready to put his hand in the pile for the good of the team, essentially took his hand out of the pile and gave a figurative middle finger to Arians and the rest of the Bucs on his way out of MetLife Stadium in the third quarter.

Brown wanted to be called a Super Gremlin – whatever that is. Sorry, my appreciation for rap is still trapped in the 1990s with Ice Cube, Public Enemy and L.L. Cool J.

But Brown isn’t a Super Gremlin. He’s a scorpion. And he does what scorpions do – eventually sting.

Just like the fable of the frog and the scorpion. Here’s how it goes.

A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it. But the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it stung the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence. The scorpion replies: “I am sorry, but I couldn’t resist the urge. It’s in my nature.”

The only difference in this scenario is that the Bucs don’t drown after being stung by the scorpion. Not with Tom Brady, Mike Evans, Rob Gronkowski and even a guy like Cyril Grayson, Jr.

Tampa Bay will carry on with its march toward the NFL playoffs, while Brown’s NFL career is likely over.

2 PROBING QUESTIONS

QUESTION 1: How Much More Magic Does Brady Have?

Plenty it seems. Sunday’s 28-24 miracle win at MetLife Stadium just added to Tom Brady’s lore. Brady drove the Bucs 93 yards down the field without any timeouts for a game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds left. And he did so without a single pass to Pro Bowl-caliber weapons Mike Evans or Rob Gronkowski. Cyril Grayson and Tyler Johnson got all nine of Brady’s targets.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

It will be fascinating to see if Brady, who made his 15th Pro Bowl, wins the NFL MVP this year, especially at age 44. I get that there is some Brady voter fatigue around the league due to his 22-year playing career. At the same time, he’s leading the NFL in passing with 4,990 yards and 40 touchdowns.

That’s 1,013 more passing yards and five more passing touchdowns than Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers has. Although Rodgers’ Packers have one more win and have the league’s best record at 13-3.

Brady is 120 yards away from beating Jameis Winston’s single-season Bucs passing record of 5,109 yards. Winston set that in 16 games during the 2019 season. Brady will have an extra game to do it this year. And he’s already matched his franchise record of 40 touchdowns that he set last season.

Just a magical year so far, and if Sunday is any indication, Brady’s magic will continue into 2022.

QUESTION 2: What Happened To The Bucs Run Defense vs. The Jets?

The Bucs missed tackles – plenty of them – against the Jets. New York ran the ball for 150 yards, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

Michael Carter had a 55-yard run before leaving the game with a concussion. Reserve rusher Ty Johnson had a 22-yard run and a touchdown. Giving up big runs like that has been uncharacteristic for Tampa Bay’s run defense, which has been in the Top 5 this year.

To suggest that the Bucs miss inside linebacker Lavonte David and outside linebacker Shaq Barrett, both of whom are injured, would be an understatement.

“I don’t think there is any doubt, but more of it was just flat missed tackles,” Arians said on Monday. “The 55-yard run should have been for no gain. The other 20-yarder we had him for a loss, but just make better tackles. You can’t replace Lavonte. He’s one of a kind.”

Even more troubling for the Bucs was the play of linebackers Devin White and Kevin Minter. White is coming off a game in which he totaled just four tackles at Carolina, then notched a career-low two stops against the Jets. New York ran the ball 26 times! White struggled mightily to get off blocks and missed some tackle attempts.

“It was not his best game that’s for sure,” Arians said of White.

Minter, who replaced David, had five tackles, but missed some stops and struggled to cover running backs out of the backfield.

2 BOLD PREDICTIONS

PREDICTION 1: Bucs Will Be One And Done In The Playoffs If …

Jets RB Austin Walter and the Bucs defense – Photo by: USA Today

Tampa Bay will lose its home playoff game against Philadelphia – or whoever its opponent will be – if the defense cannot force takeaways and generate sacks. The Bucs defense looked incredibly mortal on Sunday with just one sack and no takeaways – outside of a late fourth down stop.

If the Bucs defense has a similarly subpar performance in the postseason, the team’s playoff trip will be a short one. As good as Tampa Bay’s offense is with Tom Brady, it’s going to miss the production of Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown. To expect the Bucs to score 30 points per game like they did last year in the playoffs is unrealistic. Tampa Bay’s defense will need to help carry the day much more than it did in games at New York, New Orleans and Washington.

PREDICTION 2: Tampa Bay Won’t Be Full Strength For The Start Of The Postseason

I’m not sure which Bucs players will be back for the first round of the playoffs and which ones won’t be. But it’s wishful thinking to expect Tampa Bay to be at full strength when they host their first playoff game at home since 2007.

Tampa Bay didn’t get Vita Vea back until the NFC Championship Game last year. The Bucs currently have Lavonte David, Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Leonard Fournette, Giovani Bernard, Ronald Jones II, Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Mike Evans and Sean Murphy-Bunting on the injury report. That’s a lot of offensive and defensive playmakers the team is missing. It’s unrealistic to expect all of them to return to full health in a week.