It was not a good day for Tampa Bay, but the Bucs still found a way to beat the New York Jets, 28-24. The offense looked anemic, Antonio Brown stripped down and left the team mid-game, and the defense couldn’t find any answers for the Jets offense. Yet Tom Brady did Tom Brady things and brought the team back from trailing all game to win in the final seconds.

Brady finished the game 34-50 with 410 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Rob Gronkowski led all receivers with seven receptions for 115 yards. While Cyril Grayson added six catches for 81 yards, including the game-winning score. The ground game couldn’t get anything going, totaling just 62 yards. Ke’Shawn Vaughn had a team-high 31 yards.  On the defensive side of the ball, not many things went right. The Bucs came up with a few big stops in the second half, but surrendered 150 yards rushing and 374 yards overall.

Embarrassing First Half For Bucs

Starting with the ball, it didn’t take the Jets long to put points on the board. New York drove 72 yards down the field in less than three minutes, allowing Braxton Berrios to run in for the score on a trick play. The Bucs answered on their first possession. The drive saw them convert three third downs, before Brady found Mike Evans for the touchdown to knot it up. The Jets matched the Bucs scoring drive with one of their own. Braxton Berrios again scored the touchdown, this time through the air.

Big receptions by Evans and Antonio Brown helped to get the offense into Jets territory. Though the drive stalled and the Bucs had to settle for a field goal. After allowing two scoring drives, the defense finally came up with a stop on the surging Jets to force a punt. A sack on the drive and a costly penalty fizzled out the offense’s next possession.

With just over two minutes left, the Jets drove into Bucs territory, but the defense came up with another big stop. After the punt, with under a minute left in the half, Brady found Gronkowski for two big receptions. However he would throw an interception, looking for Mike Evans deep down the right side. A big return set the Jets up at midfield. Two plays later, New York extended their lead to 17-10 on a field goal to end the first half.

Second Half Comeback

The Bucs offense sputtered out of the gate in the second half. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty set the team back to a 3rd-and-20, which forced a punt. Capitalizing on Tampa’s struggles on defense, the Jets marched down the field and scored their third touchdown of the game to take a 14-point lead.

The Bucs offense finally woke up going 75 yards down the field, scoring on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Cam Brate on fourth down. A quick three-and-out by the Jets put the ball back in Brady’s hands. The offense sputtered inside New York territory, punting from the 39 on fourth down. Another big defensive stop combined with a bad punt gave the Bucs offense great field position inside the Jets 50.

Unable to find the end zone, Tampa was still able to come away with three points to cut the Jets lead to 24-20. The Jets drove to the Bucs 7-yard line, but a failed fourth down conversion gave Brady and the offense the ball back with just over two minutes left and the team down by four. With the game on the line, Brady did what he does best and put together a game-winning drive. Cyril Grayson came down with a 33-yard score to give the Bucs the lead. A successful two-point conversion try by Le’Veon Bell sealed a a 28-24 Tampa Bay win.