“I’m ashamed” - Skip Bayless vents guilt over pre-game prediction for Tom Brady in leadup to Panthers-Buccaneers

Heading into the Week 17 showdown against the Carolina Panthers, many pundits and fans wrote off Tom Brady. Most agreed that he hadn't been playing as well as he had in previous seasons and his team also wasn't good enough to carry him. Those that still backed him, like "Undisputed" show host Skip Bayless, expected an ugly win.

Instead, the show host and the rest of the NFL world were treated to fireworks. At the end of the 30-24 victory on Sunday, No. 12 was victorious and still solidly in the playoff hunt. Speaking on "Undisputed" on Monday, the show host revealed his guilt over doubting the quarterback as much as he did. Here's how he put it:

"In the end, I'm sitting over here as a Brady supporter. I'm ashamed by everything I said last week. I'm ashamed by everything I was tweeting early in the game because it looked like all hope was lost."

He continued, explaining why he felt like it was hopeless:

"I'm ashamed because I keep saying he's the one man in sports I don't bet against. I didn't bet against him. I still picked him to win, but I picked him to win 14 to 13 because I couldn't imagine him scoring more than 14 points."

Will Tom Brady avoid his first losing season next week?

He continued, explaining that he lost all hope early in the game once the Panthers crossed his low threshold:

"I tweeted when they fell behind 14 to nothing that the best hope they had was to tie it at 14 and go to overtime, because I could not imagine how they were going to score 14 because they can't protect Brady well enough at this stage in age."

How good was Buccaneers QB Tom Brady's fantasy performance against Carolina Panthers?

Carolina Panthers v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mike Evans' domination stole a lot of the headlines, but how well did his quarterback play in the contest? Put simply, Brady scored more points in fantasy than in any other game this season. His previous best of the year occurred in Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Based on ESPN's fantasy scoring system, the quarterback almost earned more points in the battle against the Panthers than in his past three games combined. In the game, he threw for three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He completed 34 of 45 passes for 432 yards in the contest.

It was the second time the team had scored 30 points all season long and their second highest scoring game of the season. The newly .500 team will get one last shot to secure an over .500 record in Week 18 against the Atlanta Falcons.

If any of the above quotes are used, please credit Undisputed and H/T Sportskeeda.