2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers–New England Patriots game
On October 3, 2021, during week 4 of the 2021 NFL season, the defending Super Bowl LV champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the hosting New England Patriots by a score of 19–17 on NBC Sunday Night Football. The game was highly anticipated as Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady played his first game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts against his former team, his long-time former coach Bill Belichick, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Brady had previously spent 20 seasons with the Patriots between 2000 and 2019, leading New England to a league-tying record of six championships. NBC Sports marketed the game with the tagline "The Return" in promotional material.
The game was played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | October 3, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Tampa Bay by 6+1⁄2 points | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Bill Vinovich | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 65,878 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya and Terry McAulay | ||||||||||||||||||
In the rainy evening game where Tampa Bay was favored to win, Brady threw for 269 yards and no touchdowns, passing Drew Brees as the NFL all-time career passing yards leader in the process. Brady's efforts helped lead Tampa Bay to a comeback victory and improve their season record to 3–1. The Patriots fanbase warmly welcomed Brady back to Gillette Stadium before the game, but quickly turned their attention to rookie quarterback Mac Jones. Throwing for 275 yards and two touchdown passes, Jones nearly led New England to an upset victory. In a back and forth game where four lead changes occurred in the fourth quarter alone, it would be the Patriots' turnovers, lack of a rushing attack, and ultimately a missed field goal that cost them a chance to win, and New England's season record lowered to 1–3 as a result.
The game was highly marketed and went on to become the second most-watched broadcast of NBC Sunday Night Football in its history.