Brady’s 4 TD Passes Lead Bucs Past Raiders 45-20

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes to move past Drew Brees for the most in NFL history and ran for another to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 45-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski in the second quarter and on a perfectly placed 33-yarder to Scotty Miller later in the first half. He then helped seal the game with the throw to Chris Godwin that put the Bucs (5-2) up 31-20 over the Raiders (3-3) midway through the fourth quarter.

Brady added a fourth to rookie Tyler Johnson with 3:08 to play to give him 559 in his career, passing Brees for the most ever. Brees threw two earlier in the day for New Orleans.

The 4-yard pass to Godwin was part of a key stretch when it appeared the Raiders were in position for a comeback after cutting the deficit to 24-17 on Derek Carr’s second TD pass of the game.

Took care of business 😤 pic.twitter.com/dRkY8jbEc5

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 26, 2020

The Raiders then got a stop and were driving for the potential tying score before coming up 1 yard short of a first down on a third-and-4 pass to Darren Waller. Coach Jon Gruden opted for a field goal to make it 24-20.

Brady then engineered another TD drive to make it an 11-point game and the Bucs put it away when Carr threw an interception on Las Vegas’ next play to set up Ronald Jones’ 1-yard run.

Brady finished 33 for 45 for 369 yards, while also running for Tampa Bay’s first score on a 1-yard sneak in the first quarter.
Carr went 24 for 36 for 284 yards, two TDs and one interception as the Raiders were unable to build on a big win at Kansas City before the bye.

QB respect 🤝 pic.twitter.com/IxFIMNiBj2

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 26, 2020

Flag Happy

On successive plays on a drive in the third quarter, the Bucs had an interception by Mike Edwards and a sack by Ndamukong Suh wiped out on penalties by Shaq Barrett and Sean Murphy Bunting. Carr then connected on a 44-yard pass to Nelson Agholor to set up a 1-yard TD pass to Waller that cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 24-17.

Raiders offensive lineman Gabe Jackson was ejected after the TD for apparently throwing a punch during a scrum after the play. Jackson was one of four Raiders offensive linemen who missed most of practice this week for having “high risk” contact with teammate Trent Brown after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

The four were cleared to return just hours before kickoff.

Favorite Target I

Carr looked for his favorite target on the opening drive, connecting on a 28-yard pass to Agholor and then a 21-yard TD. That made Carr 12 for 13 for 234 yards and four TDs with a perfect 158.3 passer rating when throwing to Agholor. It also gave the Raiders their first opening drive TD since Week 16 of last season vs. the Chargers.

Favorite Target II

Brady connected with Gronkowski for the second straight week with a 5-yard TD pass in the second quarter. That’s the 92nd time those two teamed up on a TD pass in the regular season or playoffs, tying the duo of Steve Young and Jerry Rice for the second most ever. Only Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison have more with 114.

Injury Report

Buccaneers: CB Carlton Davis left in the second half with a chest injury, but returned to the game.

Raiders: T Sam Young left with a knee injury in the second quarter and didn’t return.

Up Next

Buccaneers: Visit the Giants on Monday, Nov. 2

Raiders: Visit Cleveland on Sunday.