How, exactly, does one overreact to a game like this? A revenge game for the ages, rolling in on weeks' worth of hype, that actually lives up to its expectations?
We are accustomed to watching amazing things happen when Tom Brady is on a football field. But Sunday night's Bucs-Patriots matchup was drama of a different sort. Brady back for the first time in the place where he delivered the fan base two decades of championship-caliber bliss. His former coaches doing everything they can to outfox him. His would-be successor earning his chops in a big spot, toe-to-toe with the GOAT. A driving rain for dramatic effect.
In the end, it was Brady who came out ahead, as he so often does, but just barely. Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels threw everything they could at Brady and his Super Bowl champion Bucs, to the point where it wasn't settled until Nick Folk's 56-yard field goal attempt clanged harmlessly off the left upright. Brady walked out the winner, he and his current team still pointed in the direction of the repeat Super Bowl title they seek, his former team bummed but perhaps also somehow emboldened by their valiant effort. Rookie quarterback Mac Jones and the Patriots had nothing about which to hang their heads Sunday night. They stared right at the champs and didn't back down.
How do you overreact to any of that? At the same time, where else could we possibly start the Week 5 overreactions?
