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3 times this season, Tom Brady's teams have been given a gift touchdown right before halftime, including in yesterday's Super Bowl.
vs. CHARGERS, 10/04: ..llllll The Chargers were having their way with the Buccaneers, holding a 24-7 lead just before halftime. The Buccaneers were out of timeouts, and there were only 55 seconds left to play in the half. The Chargers had the ball on their own 6-yardline, 1st and 10. Take 2 knees and run out the clock, right ??? Wrong. Justin Herbert channels his inner Joe Theismann, and decides to hand the ball of to his running back, Joshua Kelly. Kelly promptly fumbles, and the Buccaneers recover. 2 plays later, Tom Brady hits his receiver for a touchdown.
That sequence of events completely changed the complexion of that game. Instead of heading into the locker room with a commanding 24-7 lead, the Chargers gift-wrapped a TD for Tom Brady and company, who ride that momentum in the 2nd half en route to a 38-31 victory.
https://www.pro-football-reference.c...2010040tam.htm
vs. PACKERS, AFC Champ: ll With no timeouts and only 8 seconds left on the clock, the Buccaneers have the ball at the Packers' 39-yardline. Anybody who has not been living on the moon knows what the Packers should do ...... rush 2 lineman, and position their remaining 9 defenders (all defensive backs) appropriately to prevent a quick sideline pass which could potentially stop the clock and give the Buccaneers a better shot at a field goal attempt, and (most importantly) have at least 3 of them positioned 5 yards in front of the goal line to prevent a touchdown. The Packers inexplicably play a standard defense, and leave corner-back Kevin King all alone with one-on-one coverage of his man (no, I'm not kidding. It was straight-up, one-on-one coverage in what was a Hail Mary situation.) Scott Miller catches the ball in the end-zone after running past King to turn a 14-10 lead into a more daunting 21-10 lead for the Buccaneers heading into the locker room.
https://www.pro-football-reference.c...2101240gnb.htm
vs. CHIEFS, Super Bowl: ll. Not to be outdone in the category of being a complete imbecile, Andy Reid wants in on the action ...... with only 1 minute left to play before halftime, his team's kicker had just booted a field goal to cut their team's deficit to 14-6. The Buccaneers only had 1 timeout, and were on the own 25 yardline. Tom Brady, not wanting to be a Justin Herbert/Joe Theismann type of fool, accepts the reality that in such a situation it is best to simply run the clock out and head into the locker. He hands the ball off to his running back, who is stopped for no gain. Reid calls a timeout. This timeout was not necessarily an awful decision, because they had 2 timeouts left, and there was at least a remote possibility that they could force a punt with 2 more stops and get the ball back with enough time to perhaps get into field goal range. But then Tom Brady calls for a conservative pass, which gains 8 yards on 2nd down. This makes it 3rd down and only 2 yards needed for a first down. This 8 yard-gain changes the situation significantly, because the Buccaneers no longer led 9 or 10 yards for a 1st down, they only need 2. Subsequently, it is time for Reid to cut his losses and let the clock run, right ??? Wrong !!! he calls
ANOTHER timeout !!!
Tom Brady must think that he's dreaming, with yet another moron tempting fate and daring him to put more points on the board only seconds before halftime. Brady does just that. First, he finds Rob Gronkowski for a conservative 5-yard completion to get the 1st down. Then he throws a deep pass to Mike Evans, who is tackled by the Chiefs defender 36 yards down-field for pass interference call to put the Buccaneers in easy field goal range. 3 plays later, Brady finds Antonio Brown in the end-zone, turning a relatively close 14-6 Buccaneers lead into a commanding 21-6 lead heading into halftime.
https://www.pro-football-reference.c...2102070tam.htm
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