Tom Brady's second season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is off to a solid start.
Brady and the defending Super Bowl champions squeaked out a dramatic, last-minute 31-29 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Thursday night's NFL season opener. The ex-New England Patriots quarterback tossed four touchdown passes in the victory, including two to Rob Gronkowski and one to Antonio Brown. Brady and Gronk have now connected for 100 total touchdown passes.
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Brady's two interceptions stand out in the box score, but neither were the Bucs signal-caller's fault. The first bounced off the hands of running back Leonard Fournette and the second came on a Hail Mary to close out the first half. Tampa Bay turned the ball over four times, marking the first time a Brady-led team has had four turnovers in a game since the Patriots' 41-34 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in 2012.
Here's Brady's final stat line for the night:
32 for 50, 379 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 97.0 passer rating
And here were his top highlights:
Brady's first touchdown of the season was a five-yarder to wide receiver Chris Godwin to put the Bucs on the board in the first quarter.
After Dallas responded with a TD of its own, Brady found Gronkowski for a two-yard score to retake the lead in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter, Brady showed off his arm with a 47-yard TD to Antonio Brown that put Tampa back on top.
Brady's fourth and final TD of the night was an 11-yard connection with Gronk to put the Bucs up by two. It was the 100th time Brady has tossed a touchdown pass to Gronkowski.
With the Cowboys up 29-28 late in the fourth quarter, Brady led one of his vintage game-winning drives. The key play was a completion to Godwin that put the Bucs in field goal range. Ryan Succop drilled the 36-yarder to seal the 31-29 win for Tampa Bay.
Next up for Brady and the Bucs is a matchup vs. the Atlanta Falcons next Sunday at 4:05 p.m. ET.