The 2022 season hasn’t gone as planned for the Bucs, as they played to an 8-9 record. But they won a downtrodden NFC South, which means they have a fighting chance to claim their second Lombardi Trophy in three seasons.

Tampa Bay is the only team in the playoff field with a losing record this season. Todd Bowles’ team hasn’t really played a complete game at any point, either. So, there is plenty of reason to believe the Bucs will be one-and-done after making the playoffs for the third straight year.

One significant reason for optimism, on the other hand, is quarterback Tom Brady. When you have him calling the shots, you can never feel out of it. The seven-time Super Bowl champion has a wealth of playoff experience. For 23 years, he has risen up in the biggest moments. Everyone knows that, of course.

That doesn’t mean it isn’t jarring when you see his playoff record compared to the other quarterbacks in the NFC playoff field.

Bucs S Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Brady has 35 playoff wins. He’s played in 47 playoff games (!). The next closest is Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, who the Bucs will see on Monday night. Prescott has four career playoff games under his belt. Meanwhile, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins has three.

Jalen Hurts, whose Eagles will be enjoying a bye week this weekend as the NFC’s No. 1 seed, has just one playoff game to his name. That came last year, when the Bucs beat Philadelphia 31-15 in the Wild Card Round.

Outside of those four quarterbacks, the rest of the teams in the NFC field have signal-callers who are set to make their playoff debuts: rookie Brock Purdy (49ers), fourth-year Daniel Jones (Giants) and veteran Geno Smith (Seahawks).

So, as far as the experience factor goes, the Bucs have a major edge over the rest of the conference at the quarterback position.

Bucs QB Brady Calls Playoff Wins “A Blessing”

In 20 seasons with the Patriots, Brady won 17 division titles, made 13 AFC Championship Games and won six Super Bowls. That type of success was already unprecedented.

But then, he came to Tampa and won a Super Bowl with the Bucs in his first season as the team’s quarterback. That upped his total to seven Super Bowls. And over his first two years with the Bucs, he’s added five more playoff wins to his name.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

Brady told the local media on Friday how much those 35 playoff wins — and the experiences that have come with them — mean to him.

“It’s a blessing for me to have those types of memories and experiences,” Brady said. “I’ve been very blessed to be a part of great teams that got to this point and then had a lot of big wins. This is what everyone wants to play for. They want to play in the playoffs. I’m sure you guys feel it, we feel it too. You get more texts this week, you get more people that want to come to the game, you get more people paying attention, so you want to come through.”

Brady, even at age 45, is still playing at a high level. He threw for 4,694 yards and 25 touchdowns to nine interceptions this season. And despite the offense failing to live up to what it did in 2020 and 2021, with Brady, it still has a chance to perform come playoff time.

Plus, with the way the Bucs defense has played this year, there’s still a chance for this 8-9 team to be another one of those “great teams” Brady was talking about.

He and the Bucs get a chance to add to his playoff victory total on Monday night. It’s about surviving and advancing at this stage of the season, and Brady has done that better than anyone for more than two decades.