Remembering Tom Brady’s Unforgettable Return To Foxboro

There are very few relationships between a player and a team in the NFL like the one that existed between Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Brady and head coach Bill Belichick combined to win six Super Bowl games over nearly 20 years of football, an unprecedented level of success that would mark the greatest dynasty in NFL history.

However, all good things must eventually come to an end, and Brady's career in New England was no exception. A big free-agent contract lured him to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, setting up a dramatic 2021 meeting in which he returned to New England to face his former team for the first time. The buildup to the contest and the game itself were both especially memorable, given the full context of the matchup.

Leaving the Patriots was surely a difficult decision for the legendary quarterback, but the writing was on the wall by the end of the 2019 season. New England had just culminated a 12-4 regular season with a loss in the wild card round to the Tennessee Titans. Brady had taken less money for the sake of the team for years by this point, and he finally had the opportunity to sign a deal that reflected his status as one of the best quarterbacks in the league. The Buccaneers signed him to a  $30 million-per-year contract, combining a huge paycheck with a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay.

Those title chances were realized in Brady's first season with the Bucs. The signal-caller led Tampa Bay to an 11-5 regular-season record, piloting one of the best offenses in the NFL with wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin Jr. Despite playing on the road throughout the postseason, the Buccaneers cruised to a 31-9 Super Bowl victory, derailing the mighty Kansas City Chiefs on the biggest stage in sports.

Replacing one of the greatest players in NFL history was never going to be easy, but the Patriots did their best in the immediate aftermath of Brady's departure. After a year with Cam Newton manning the ship, New England selected quarterback Mac Jones in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Unsurprisingly, Jones took the starting job right away, throwing 22 touchdowns against 13 picks, while guiding New England to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth. Along the way, in just his fourth career start, Jones faced a duel with Brady, on Patriots turf.

For the first time in more than a year, Brady came back to his old stomping grounds. Both teams prepared for a classic "Sunday Night Football" game in New England, with the cold weather favoring the home team. The first half was an uneventful one, with the Buccaneers hitting two field goals while allowing a single score, an 11-yard touchdown from Jones to tight end Hunter Henry.

The action improved significantly after halftime. After being given a short field by his special teams unit, Brady authored an eight-play, 52-yard touchdown drive capped by a touchdown run from running back Ronald Jones II to provide the Bucs with a 13-7 lead. The Patriots answered immediately, with Jones putting together the most impressive drive of the game. He moved the offense 77 yards in seven plays, finding his other tight end, Jonnu Smith, for a 1-yard score to pull New England back in front.

Not to be outdone, Brady answered with a whopping 15-play sequence to get the Bucs another field goal on the leg of kicker Ryan Succop. The Patriots scored a field goal of their own their next time out, and suddenly, there was an opportunity for Brady to do what he'd done so many times on the same field in a Pats uniform: come up clutch.

It only took seven plays for Brady to set Succop up for another lead-changing kick, pulling Tampa Bay ahead 19-17. However, Jones got the ball back with 1:57 left on the clock, leading the offense to a 56-yard kick for a chance to win the game. Kicker Nick Folk missed the try, letting the Buccaneers off the hook in Brady's return to New England.

The next couple of seasons were far kinder to the Buccaneers than the Patriots. While Tampa Bay failed to return to the Super Bowl, Brady led them to a 13-4 record in 2021, a season ending with a defeat in the divisional round. The 2022 season saw another playoff berth, but one far less impressive, as the Bucs somehow won the NFC South with an 8-9 record in Brady's final season in the NFL.

Despite a great start to his career, Jones did not turn out to be Brady's true successor in New England. After a couple of mediocre seasons with the Pats, he was shipped to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a late-round pick. Bill Belichick was eventually fired after the 2023 season, and his replacement, Jerod Mayo, only lasted a single campaign before facing the same fate. After all of those struggles, the Patriots drafted quarterback Drake Maye and hired head coach Mike Vrabel before the 2025 campaign, signaling a brand-new era at two critical spots.