Film Room: Buccaneers QB Tom Brady's Final Fourth Quarter in the NFL
Tom Brady has retired after one of the most incredible careers in sports history. He went out near, if not at the top of his game, keeping himself in the MVP conversation after a 22-year run as the oldest player at his position.
Brady may not have gone out with his eighth Lombardi Trophy in hand, but in the fourth quarter of his final game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he very nearly managed to overcome a seemingly impossible, 24-point deficit before defensive coordinator Todd Bowles’ infamous all-out blitz essentially sealed the Bucs’ fate.
To commemorate Brady’s near-comeback, here are breakdowns of his best throws from the final quarter of his Hall of Fame career, which can be viewed in the video compilation below.
(14:25) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass short middle to R.Gronkowski to LA 32 for 13 yards (N.Scott)
The Buccaneers send 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) on the field and initially come out in a 2X2 shotgun formation with both TEs aligned to the same side.
Cameron Brate motions into the left slot, exposing the Los Angeles Rams’ zone coverage when no one follows, creating a 3X1 look with Rob Gronkowski isolated inside the numbers.
LA shows a 2-high shell before the snap, but rotates to Cover 3 “Buzz” with safety Nick Scott dropping down to take away anything over the intermediate middle of the field.
Brady looks down the barrel of the defense to confirm coverage, then hits Gronk on a quick in-breaker opposite the buzzing SAF for an easy 1st down.
(13:16) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass incomplete deep right to R.Gronkowski (N.Scott)
Once again, the Bucs send Brate in motion as a pre-snap coverage indicator. But this time, they do so from 13 personnel (1 RB, 3 TEs) with O.J. Howard.
The Rams show their patented 2-high shell, but aren’t disguising coverage this time around and drop into Cover 2.
Tampa dials up a “Smash” concept with Gronkowski running an intermediate out-breaker over Howard’s flat route.
Howard draws Darious Williams’ attention, creating space for Gronkowski, but Scott gets an excellent break on the ball and breaks up a perfect throw from Brady.
(3:56) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass deep left to S.Miller pushed ob at TB 42 for 19 yards (D.Williams)
More 12 personnel! Rather than Brate going in motion this time, Scotty Miller motions from the #3 position in a stack to the opposite side of the field outside the numbers.
Miller’s motion forces nickel cornerback David Long to the opposite slot, revealing the Rams’ 1-high zone coverage. This tells Brady knows he will have a 1-on-1 matchup outside with Miller vs Williams.
The offensive line slides right toward Aaron Donald and Von Miller, while Gronk stays in to block Leonard Floyd off the left edge.
Post-snap, Tampa runs its patented Y-Cross concept with comeback concepts on the outside.
Miller sells a stop-n-go route vs soft coverage to get the CB in chase mode downfield, then breaks back underneath for separation.
Brady steps up in the pocket to avoid quick edge pressure from Miller, then delivers a perfectly-placed pass to the sideline where the coverage defender couldn’t make a play.
(3:27) (No Huddle, Shotgun) T.Brady pass deep right to M.Evans for 55 yards, TOUCHDOWN
Tampa Bay uses a nearly identical look and play-call as the one used on Miller’s comeback route reception, but this time the Bucs go for the throat.
Once again the Bucs line slides help to Donald, with Gronkowski staying in to help with Miller on the opposite side.
Rather than dual comebacks on the perimeter, both outside receivers continue downfield on out-n-ups, aligning inside the numbers for extra space to win downfield.
Brady actually targeted Mike Evans with Jalen Ramsey in coverage on the same route earlier in the quarter and when the teams first met in Week 3, but Ramsey was able to hook Evans’ wrist and disrupt the route.
This time, with LA playing man coverage on each wide receiver and zone inside, Evans anticipates Ramsey’s move and swipes away contact to stack the CB.
Ramsey keeps fighting downfield and manages to get back in Evans’ hip to look back for the ball, but Brady leads his WR perfectly and drops a dime for the final touchdown of his career.
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