LANDOVER, Md. - New team, same swashbuckling playoff success for Tom Brady.
Brady threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns Saturday night to lead Tampa Bay past the Washington Football Team, 31-23 in an NFC wild-card game for the Buccaneers' first playoff victory since the 2002 season. Brady was critical of his play and the offense's performance in the red zone, but he relished picking up his 31st career postseason win - the 43-year-old quarterback's first not with the New England Patriots.
"Certainly a lot to improve on, but great to get a win," said Brady, who was 22-of-40 passing. "If you could win 100-0, it's going to be the same result in the end. You'd love to play great every game. I think it's good to win and advance."
In his 42nd postseason start and first not in a Patriots uniform, Brady made the most of a lack of early pressure to build a lead against the NFL's second-ranked defense that held up.
"He is a fighter, he plays hard, works hard and studies hard, and he is the man for the job," Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette said.
Brady had to outduel Washington's Taylor Heinicke, who had a breakout performance in just his second pro start and first in the playoffs in place of injured starter Alex Smith. Heinicke - signed in early December to the practice squad - ran for 46 yards and a touchdown and threw for 306 yards and a score.
"He almost beat us with his legs," Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians said. "He was very elusive. We knew he was going to scramble around, there was going to be bootlegs and scrambles. We were really hoping for Alex because we knew that part of the game wasn't going to be in there."
Heinicke wasn't enough to overcome Brady's off-and-on brilliance. While coach Bill Belichick and the Patriots watch from home with their streak of consecutive playoff appearances snapped at 11 following a 7-9 season, Brady has the opportunity to play in another Super Bowl - in his new home stadium.
"We're thrilled with the win," Bucs tight end Cameron Brate said. "I hate to say that we're relieved, but at this point we're just pumped we got the win. No matter how ugly it was, no matter how many mistakes we made, a win's a win this time of year."
At 43 years, 159 days, Brady passed George Blanda as the oldest player to throw a touchdown pass in a playoff game. A 36-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown was Brady's longest in the playoffs since 2011.
He was methodical in the first half with 12 completions for 209 yards and wasn't sacked until the final minute of the second quarter.
Heinicke made things interesting in the third, most notably scrambling for an 8-yard touchdown by diving at the pylon in the corner of the end zone.
The 27-year-old banged up his left shoulder and didn't look the same on the next drive. While Heinicke was getting looked at by medical staff, Brady engineered a 69-yard scoring drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by Fournette, which made it 28-16 and was enough to withstand Heinicke's attempt to be the unlikely hero.
"He made the throws that he needed to make," Washington cornerback Kendall Fuller said of Brady.
Still, with Smith out because of a strained right calf, Heinicke made a name for himself in prime time, setting the single-game franchise rushing record for quarterbacks and raising the question of whether he should be considered Washington's signal caller of the future.
"It was gutsy," coach Ron Rivera said. "It's one of those things that a guy like him that works hard at what he does, he's created an opportunity for himself and we'll see what happens."
Heinicke had only appeared in eight games and started one in the NFL before Saturday and was taking online math classes at Old Dominion when Washington called him to be its "quarantine quarterback."
"When he first got here a month or so ago, I didn't know too much about him," receiver Terry McLaurin said. "The first time I even caught a pass from him was last week. But he earned my respect."