| Venue: State Farm Stadium, Glendale Date: Sunday, 12 February Start: 23:30 GMT |
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Dak Prescott upstaged seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady as the Dallas Cowboys dumped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of this season’s play-offs.
The Bucs qualified for the post-season despite Brady, 45, having the first losing season of his 23-year career.
But their luck ran out as Prescott passed for four touchdowns and rushed for another as Dallas earned a first away win in the play-offs since 1993.
After leading 18-0 at half-time, Dallas eased home for a 31-14 victory.
The five-time Super Bowl winners, who last lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 1996, had lost their previous eight road games in the play-offs stretching back to a win at the San Francisco 49ers.
The 49ers beat the Cowboys during last season’s wildcard weekend and the old rivals from the ’90s will meet again in next week’s divisional round at Levi’s Stadium.
Although Tampa Bay (8-9) had a worse record in the regular season than Dallas (12-5), it was enough for them to win the NFC South division and secure home-field advantage for the final game in week one of the play-offs.
Dallas therefore had to visit the Raymond James Stadium, where Brady won a record seventh Super Bowl in his first season with the Bucs two years ago.
This was his 48th play-off game – more than 23 of the NFL’s 32 franchises have had in their entire history – but there was never a hint of Brady adding to that tally.
Neither team managed to get a first down on the game’s first four possessions, but Prescott then found his rhythm, with tight end Dalton Schultz grabbing a high throw for a 22-yard touchdown.
The Bucs made 70 yards on their next drive before Brady made an uncharacteristic error, trying to toss the ball away under pressure only to be picked off in the end zone.
The Cowboys replied with a 15-play drive taking them 80 yards downfield, with Prescott capping it by faking a hand-off before running into the end zone untouched.
On Dallas’ next possession, Prescott made 20-yard passes to Schultz and CeeDee Lamb before finding Schultz for an 11-yard score to round off a 91-yard drive.
Victory looked assured when Prescott, who tied for a league-high 15 interceptions despite missing five games of the regular season, picked out Michael Gallup at the back of the end zone on the Cowboys’ first possession after half-time.
Julio Jones then managed to hang on to a 30-yard pass from Brady to get the Bucs on the board, but Prescott made an 18-yard touchdown pass to Lamb in the fourth quarter to finish with 305 yards, completing 25 of his 33 pass attempts.
Brady salvaged some pride with a late touchdown pass to Cameron Brate and actually finished with 351 yards, making 35 of a whopping 66 passes.
What next for Brady?
There is now speculation over whether this will be the final game of Tom Brady’s record-breaking career.
The NFL’s three-time Most Valuable Player has already retired once, after Tampa Bay were knocked out of last season’s play-offs, but just 40 days later he made a U-turn to spend a third season with the Bucs.
Brady then agreed a 10-year deal worth $375m to become Fox Sports’ lead NFL analyst – whenever the future Hall of Famer does choose to hang up his helmet for good.
It is thought the Bucs would welcome Brady back for a 24th season in the NFL, but a handful of teams are interested in signing him in free agency.
He could remain in Florida, with the Miami Dolphins having been long-time suitors. Owner Stephen Ross was fined $1.5m for ‘impermissible contact’ with Brady between 2019 and 2021, when he was with the New England Patriots.
There are concerns about the NFL future of Tua Tagovailoa as the quarterback, 24, missed the Dolphins’ play-off defeat by the Buffalo Bills as he is still recovering from his second concussion of the season.
Brady is having an eco-friendly mansion built in Miami too, following his divorce from Gisele Bundchen last year.
He has also been linked with the Las Vegas Raiders, whose head coach is former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, while there has been talk of a potential return to the Patriots as coach Bill Belichick, with whom Brady won six Super Bowls, has committed to another season.
One thing is for sure, though. Brady will take his time over making his decision after admitting he made a mistake by deciding his future a matter of days after last season’s play-off exit.
“I am going to get home and get a good night’s sleep,” he said after Monday’s game. “There has been a lot of focus on this game and it will be one day at a time.”
Brady added: “I love this organisation. It is a great place to be and thank you to everyone for welcoming me. I’m very grateful for the respect and hopefully I gave the same thing back to you guys.”
Divisional round fixtures
(away team first, kick-off times GMT)
Saturday 21 January
- Jacksonville Jaguars v Kansas City Chiefs (21:30)
- New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles (01:15 Sun)
Sunday 22 January
- Cincinnati Bengals v Buffalo Bills (20:00)
- Dallas Cowboys v San Francisco 49ers (23:30)
