Tom Brady on Sunday reached his tenth Super Bowl.
The 43-year-old quarterback led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a compelling 31-26 win over the Green Bay Packers. In doing so, the Bucs will next month be the first team to play in the Super Bowl in their own stadium.
‘It’s great to get another road win, and now we got a home game,’ said Brady, who went 20 of 36 for 280 yards with three touchdowns. ‘Who’d ever thought a home Super Bowl for us? But we did it.’
Brady is back in his first year at Tampa Bay after reaching this stage nine times with the New England Patriots.
Following his win, the six-time Super Bowl champ’s wife Gisele Bündchen shared a snap of herself and their daughter Vivian, 8; and son Benjamin, 11, in their Tampa Bay Buccaneer jerseys.
Bündchen – who boasts 27.3M social media followers – gushed: ‘We are already cheering here papai! We love you! Let’s go @tombrady! Let’s go Bucs!’
After the Bucs beat the Green Bay Packers 31-26, Gisele triumphantly tweeted: ‘Yeeeeeah Super Bowl here we come!’ Bündchen also Instastoried a close-up of his face captioned: ‘@tombrady we love and are so proud of you, papai!’
Tom Brady will play in his tenth Super Bowl and his first since joining Tampa Bay Bucaneers
The Bucaneers will be the first team to play the Super Bowl in their own stadium next month
Brady throws an interception under pressure from Darnell Savage of the Green Bay Packers
‘We are already cheering here papai! We love you!’ The 43-year-old six-time Super Bowl champ’s wife Gisele Bündchen shared a snap of herself and their daughter Vivian, 8; and son Benjamin, 11; showing their pride in Tampa Bay Buccaneer jerseys
After the Bucs beat the Green Bay Packers 31-26, Gisele triumphantly tweeted: ‘Yeeeeeah Super Bowl here we come!’
Brady’s ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan gave him a ‘congratulatory’ shout-out on Instagram: ‘Could not be more proud @tombrady said he would do it and he did.’
The Cali-born quarterback famously ended his two-year relationship with the 49-year-old Blue Bloods actress in December 2006 – the same month he went on a blind date with Gisele at West Village wine bar, Turks & Frogs.
Bridget went on to welcome their 13-year-old son John Edward eight months later, and Tom has been happily married to Bündchen for 11 years now.
The Bucs were never behind in a compelling match, a classic game of two halves.
They held what appeared a commanding half-time lead after Arians was rewarded for a brave call. With 13 seconds on the clock they converted on fourth and four. The next play, Brady exposed terrible coverage, throwing to Scotty Miller for a breathtaking 39-yard touchdown pass. It turned a four-point game into a 21-10 advantage.
‘We’re coming home,’ Bucs coach Bruce Arians said Sunday. ‘We’re coming home to win.’
Brady extended the lead to 18 points shortly after the break, with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Brate.
With Tampa Bay’s defense stifling Green Bay’s ground game, quarterback Aaron Rodgers took his team on his back.
The MVP-elect threw for two touchdowns in the third quarter and suddenly the Packers were within five points. Rodgers, who is now 1-4 in conference title games, was superb, completing 33 of 48 passes for 346 yards.
And with Brady and his offense spluttering — he threw interceptions on three straight drives for the first time in his career — Green Bay seemed to have the game in their grasp.
Down 31-23 after a Ryan Succop field goal, they were perched deep in Tampa territory. But on fourth and one from the eight yard line, head coach Matt LaFleur made the baffling decision to go for a field goal with just over two minutes remaining.
Led by Brady, a master at draining the clock, the Bucs did just that. They will face the winners of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills on February 7.
That leaves Brady to compete for his seventh Super Bowl title. Should he win, it will be one more than New England’s haul.
Green Bay Packers fought hard but were always behind the Bucaneers in a compelling game
Entertainment: Three-time Grammy winner The Weeknd is scheduled to headline the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show after Eric Church and Jazmine Sullivan sing the National Anthem
Brady has certainly earned the $30M-per-year free agent contract he signed in March by leading his team to Super Bowl LV, which airs February 7 on CBS.
The Bucs will face off against either the reigning Kansas City Chiefs or the Buffalo Bills at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
Three-time Grammy winner The Weeknd is scheduled to headline the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show.
Country crooner Eric Church and R&B belter Jazmine Sullivan will team up to perform the National Anthem before the big game.
