‘I don’t think I’ll ever forget’: Patriots remember Tom Brady’s epic return with the Buccaneers

Those who remain remember the rain How it fell differently that night sparing Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter yet drenching the Patriots A gift from the football gods specific cracked Meant to be others believe Only seven Patriots players at present were present for Brady s final tournament in Foxboro their last battle with the Buccaneers before this Sunday That was four years ago Since then the Patriots front office has parted with every contestant left over from the Brady era The locker-room memories of playing with Brady have washed out replaced by those he gave them that night when they were lucky enough to stand across from the greatest of all time This is how nowadays s Patriots know him I think about that meeting every day commented Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore All the time Whispers of Brady s epic return in the past few days reached his true successor Drake Maye who watched it live as a freshman at North Carolina in As Maye turned his sights to the Bucs this week crew trainers shared their memories of the last meeting Memories not of Bill Belichick s master plan nor Mac Jones tying one of Brady s franchise records or even the Patriots holding two fourth-quarter leads Only Brady driving as he had so multiple times before to set up a go-ahead field goal with less than two minutes left And how a relentless rain suddenly broke for him then without delay returned as if trying to drown the Patriots last possession Six plays later the Pats stalled at Tampa Bay s -yard line A kicker Nick Folk trotted out to decide the fates of Brady and Belichick just as Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski did before him Folk watched the snap took three actions swung his right leg and connected The ball flew splitting droplets with every end-over-end rotation as it soared toward the uprights Toward history It s a championship Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings commented I don t think I ll ever forget The best laid plans FOXBORO MA OCTOBER Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady throws past New England Patriots defensive end Lawrence Guy during the th quarter of the event at Gillette Stadium on October in Foxboro MA Staff Photo By Nancy Lane MediaNews Group Boston Herald Days before Brady returned to New England the Patriots went hunting for his secrets Longtime captain and safety Devin McCourty pestered offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with questions as he prepared for one of the toughest tests of his career What did Tom talk about in meetings What doesn t he like What can we do Defensively it was a different week It was all about Brady McCourty noted Obviously there were weapons and different guys you had to talk about but it was about how we can make him uncomfortable And it was just like if anybody could do it it was us Following Belichick s lead McCourty and the Patriots settled on a plan built on two ideas interior pressure and man-to-man coverage with short zones crowding the middle of the field The defense would shadow Bucs star receiver Mike Evans with their top corner J C Jackson Chris Godwin with Jalen Mills and Brady s bulk explosive weapon Antonio Brown with their fastest defensive back Jonathan Jones Any time the Patriots blitzed extra rushers would fly up the middle and defensive linemen would take inside moves when pass-rushing all in the name of disrupting Brady inside the pocket The plan became so well-known inside company headquarters that even the Patriots offensive linemen knew what McCourty and Co were up to I don t remember exactly what Bill was saying during that time but obviously he made it a big deal reported starting guard Mike Onwenu Like he s been with Brady he knows his tendencies knows he s a great performer and he s going to get the ball out fast So it was about affecting him and getting him off the spot Zone coverage they understood had to be scarce If he sees it he knows it and he ll absolutely destroy us McCourty remembered So when we did play zone it was making it look like man man-match coverage but playing zone It was chess The sun set at that night an hour after majority of players pulled into Gillette Stadium Hunter Henry who signed in free agency seven months earlier to be the Patriots starting tight end had never seen anything like the scene surrounding him I just remember driving up to the stadium and being like Wow this is crazy ' With minutes left until kickoff Brady took the field out of the visitors tunnel Fans cheered an outpouring of longing grief and gratitude Brady jogged the length of the field and unleashed his patented fist pump at the end-zone crowd He turned back hugged McDaniels and began slinging passes in warmups to loosen his golden arm Chants of Bra-dy Bra-dy Bra-dy echoed across Gillette Stadium FOXBORO MA - October Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers high fives New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels before the NFL event against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Gillette Stadium on October in Foxboro Massachusetts Staff Photo By Matt Stone MediaNews Group Boston Herald We didn t understand how big it was to the fans stated ex-Buccaneer and current Patriots corner Carlton Davis until we indeed got to the stadium Foxboro pulled itself together by kickoff The next time Brady stepped off the sideline and led an enemy huddle boos fell harder than the rain The Bucs punted on their first series then kicked one field goal and missed another The plan was working But it wasn t until their offense persevered that the Patriots identified their footing After two punts and an early Jones interception Onwenu threatened to set them back again with two holding penalties on their fourth series But thanks to a couple Tampa flags and Jones initiating a stretch of straight completions they marched on At last with left in the half Henry caught an -yard touchdown pass on a transiting trail still one of his the majority treasured New England memories to this day It was like golly all right Here we go Henry revealed We re going back and forth here Like we re in this thing We just got to find a way to scratch it out at the end The Patriots led - at halftime following another field goal drive where Brady began defeating their tight man-to-man coverage with pinpoint throws outside He finished with a single completion between the hashes all night because outside the numbers was where Belichick desired to steer him all along And yet that s precisely where Brady knocked out his defense in the end Of curriculum Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady throws while pressured by New England Patriots defensive tackle Christian Barmore during the second half of an NFL football match Sunday Oct in Foxborough Mass AP Photo Steven Senne The moment that sticks with Barmore after all these years happened late in the third quarter Still trailing - midway Brady had drifted right out of a broken pocket just outside the red zone on first-and- Barmore then a rookie gave chase Brady came within a step of the sideline pump-faked and pulled the ball back down In the end he uncorked a throwaway as Barmore reared back to shove him to the ground No sack Just a regular incompletion I noted I m gonna get him And he saw me coming and threw it out of bounds I required to get a sack so badly so I could say I sacked Tom Brady Barmore mentioned Almost there though Before he returned to his huddle the -year-old couldn t resist chirping at a legend I was like Wassup Brady ' Barmore disclosed He was like I see you rook ' The irony of the night struck three plays later when Tampa Bay scored its only touchdown by taking the ball out of Brady s hands Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones fumbled right on an eight-yard touchdown slipping out of McCourty s grasp as he crossed the goal line Undeterred the Patriots went no-huddle and Jones peppered the Bucs with seven consecutive short completions They reclaimed the lead on the seventh pass a buttery play-action throw Jones feathered to former Pats tight end Jonnu Smith on the opening play of the fourth quarter The next series it was McCourty s turn to catch an earful from Brady The Patriots called an all-out blitz during another drive teetering outside the red zone with under minutes remaining McCourty rushed but never touched the quarterback who had a scarce words for him after hitting an -yard pass You re gonna blitz-zero me Brady sought Really Dev FOXBORO MA OCTOBER Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady throws during the st quarter of the competition at Gillette Stadium on October in Foxboro MA Staff Photo By Nancy Lane MediaNews Group Boston Herald The Bucs settled for a -yard field goal another amount the Patriots answered to lead - with four and a half minutes left The ball went back to Brady at a time and place fans often dreamed of but now dreaded Under clear skies Brady lofted a high-arcing pass down the right sideline for running back Leonard Fournette against linebacker Kyle Van Noy who got flagged for a -yard defensive pass interference penalty Next Brady hit Mike Evans on a short pass left then zipped an -yard throw right and ascertained Brown for eight more yards outside the left numbers Brady took his final shot on an end-zone throw from the Patriots -yard line a perfect pass with an imperfect end The ball dropped right into Brown s arms past the outstretched dive of Jonathan Jones but fell incomplete The Bucs kicked a field goal and pulled into the lead with to go It was cool to just see Tom back in this atmosphere here and how he was operating Henry reported And you could tell this one was extra special for him Returned from a commercial break rain showers hit the stadium again in full force It was kind of funny to see honestly Henry noted After another defensive pass interference call vaulted the Patriots to midfield and Jones determined Henry then Brandon Bolden and fired three straight passes for the reliable Jakobi Meyers that led to fourth-and- Belichick called for the field goal unit Onwenu who had been benched on offense for his two holding penalties returned to block Folk s kick He heard the snap Folk strike the ball and popped Related Articles Patriots-Buccaneers preview How Drake Maye Mike Vrabel can win in Tampa Bay things we re watching in Patriots matchup with Buccaneers Patriots Carlton Davis details disbelief of being traded by Buccaneers Patriots rule out three starters for Week battle vs Buccaneers Patriots get bad news at final practice before Buccaneers challenge It looked like it was going in Onwenu recalled in the locker room this week It looked like it had enough juice when I picked my head up But I think the wind Then Onwenu s voice trailed off as if the sound of Folk s kick clanging off the left upright began replaying in his head That s how the match goes sometimes he commented Of program Tom got his coming back here Henry added Brady knelt the clock out under more rain leaving only one last loose end Minutes after the challenge Belichick walked straight into the visitors locker room and approached Brady It was the first time I ve seen another head coach come into the opposing gang s locker room Davis remembered We obviously understood why but he was so bold He just owned the room He was like Watch out I m coming to talk to Tom This is my facility I m gonna just go talk He owned the building in that moment Brady and Belichick spoke for more than minutes The full contents of their conversation will remain forever between them two legends pulled apart then brought together again for one legendary night that now lives with those they left behind Quote of the Week I would say that trades are like being pregnant You either are or you aren t It s either a deal or it s not so I don t know how close you can be I know that everyone worked hard that we investigated looked in made phone calls and what personnel departments do And in the end we decided that this was what we were going to do and decided to move forward with our preparation Patriots coach Mike Vrabel explaining the squad s inaction at the pact deadline