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Tom Brady's final season in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was an uncharacteristic campaign for the now-retired quarterback. The team struggled to replicate the success of Brady's first two seasons with the franchise under new head coach Todd Bowles and finished the regular season with a losing record.
Despite limping to an 8-9 record, the Buccaneers won the NFC South division title and made it to the playoffs but suffered a brutal 31-14 loss to Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wildcard round at home.
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Brady, who had retired at the end of the 2021 season before making a dramatic U-turn, walked away from the NFL for a second time after the defeat against the Cowboys. A tough year, personally and professionally, ended in anti-climactic for the seven-time Super Bowl champion. However, the latter could have been much worse.
Buccaneers would have 4th pick in 2023 NFL draft without Tom Brady's comebacks
Tom Brady's final season in the NFL would have been much worse had it not been for the fourth-quarter comebacks he and the team engineered in four games.
In Week 9 of the 2022 NFL season, the Buccaneers, who had lost three straight games, trailed 13-6 heading into the fourth quarter. But a field goal and an exceptional drive, engineered by Brady, helped the team win and end their three-game losing streak.
In Week 13, the Buccaneers trailed 16-3 against the New Orleans Saints with 3:03 left. However, two touchdown drives late in the game helped Tampa Bay secure another dramatic win.
In Week 17, with the playoff hopes on the line, the Buccaneers trailed 21-10 early in the fourth quarter after a Shi Smith touchdown. However, Brady and the offense added 20 unanswered points to their team's score in 12 minutes of game time and helped the franchise earn a playoff spot.
On two other occasions, in Week 2 against the Saints and Week 16 against the Cardinals, the Buccaneers headed into the fourth quarter with the scores level.
Had the results of these games stayed as they were at the end of the third quarter, Brady and the Buccaneers would have finished the season with a 3-12-2 record. That record would have yielded the top pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
(NOTE: The tweet incorrectly states the Buccaneers would have a 4-12-2 record if games ended after three quarters)
Instead, Tom Brady and the Buccaneers finished with an 8-9 record, made it to the playoffs, and wound up with the 19th pick in the draft.
In hindsight, landing the top pick, or somewhere close to the top, would have helped the Buccaneers draft one of Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, or Anthony Richardson as a long-term replacement for Brady. They'll now head into the 2023 NFL season, with Baker Mayfield likely being the starting quarterback.
