"Brady in his instigator era lol", "This is his Hollywood Tom Brady phase" - Redditors claim Buccaneers QB started fight with Saints star Marshon Lattimore

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally got their offense going late in the game Sunday to defeat the New Orleans Saints in a key divisional victory. They had to do so without wide receiver Mike Evans (and Chris Godwin, who sat with injury) due to an ejection in the second half.

The incident occurred after Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore said something to Brady after defending a pass on third down, forcing the Buccaneers to punt.

Leonard Fournette and the quarterback took issue with this, with Fournette jawing back and forth with Lattimore. Evans came rushing in to defend his quarterback, flattening Lattimore with an unexpected hit.

That only exacerbated things as the benches cleared and Lattimore, Evans and many of their teammates went at it. The two were ejected and everyone else walked away relatively clean.

Brady's role in the fiasco has come under the microscope. Some NFL fans believe he very well may have instigated the incident that resulted in Lattimore, who was having a strong game, being ejected.

Screenshots via r/nfl comment's section

At the time of the ejection, the score was 3-3. Brady had grown visibly frustrated with the offense as Lattimore and the Saints defense were shutting everything down.

After the ejection, the Buccaneers scored 17 points en route to a 10-point victory.

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Will Brady be punished for his role in the brawl?

Brady has largely avoided punishment across his career (save for the Deflategate fiasco). Seeing him punished for this incident would be a surprise.

It is clear in the video that he does hurl expletives at Lattimore, which likely upset the cornerback. It's also likely that the quarterback knew about Lattimore and Evans' history, and figured that they might get into it.

Divisional Round - Tampa Bay Buccaneers v New Orleans Saints

However, it is unlikely that the quarterback would want to sacrifice his top wideout (though not impossible) to get Lattimore out of the game. At that point, the corner was guiding the Saints defense to an incredible performance and the game was not the same after his ejection.

He was already without Godwin for the game. The NFL will review the video to see how involved the Buccaneers quarterback was at the onset of the fight. However, since he didn't physically participate, a punishment is very unlikely.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Green Bay Packers next in Week 3.