Tom Brady remained coy on his next move after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were beaten 31-14 by the Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium in the NFC Wild Card round.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion announced his retirement in February last year only to reverse that decision 40 days later, and must now consider his future again as he is set to become a free agent.
That was the obvious question in the wake of a disappointing loss for Tampa Bay, whose season-long struggles offensively were on show once again.
"I'm going to go home, get a good night’s sleep, as good as I can tonight," Brady said. "There has been a lot of focus on this game, so yeah. It’ll just be one day at a time, truly."
There was an emotional embrace between the 45-year-old and his parents and sister near the tunnel, and a message of thanks at the end of his press conference.
"It just feels like the end of the season," he said "I love this organisation. It’s a great place to be. Thank you, everybody, for welcoming me."
The chances of Brady remaining at Tampa Bay look remote, with the most likely options either a move to another franchise or retirement and a switch to the broadcasting booth.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott passed for four touchdowns and rushed for another in his side's win.
Prescott passed for 305 yards while guiding the fifth-seeded Cowboys to their first play-off road victory since prevailing 30-20 over the San Francisco 49ers in 1993 at Candlestick Park. Dallas broke an eight-game road losing run with the win.
"I didn't listen to anybody else’s opinions, anybody else’s thoughts," Prescott said on ESPN after the game when asked about being consistently asked about the Cowboys’ play-off woes.
"I have a great supporting cast, a team that believes in me. That’s all that really matters to me and just stay focused on what I can do."
Ironically, the Cowboys will visit the second-seeded 49ers on Sunday in the divisional round.
"I’m excited for it. They’re a good team," Prescott said of the 49ers. "They took us out last year (in the play-offs). We know what we have ahead of us."
Dalton Schultz caught seven passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns while Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb also had scoring receptions for the Cowboys. Tony Pollard rushed for 77 yards on 15 carries.
DAK MAKING THIS HIS PLAYOFF MOMENT.
— NFL (@NFL) January 17, 2023
📺: #DALvsTB on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/HABicMhZeY pic.twitter.com/bblLN8L2JI
Brady completed 35 of 66 passes for 351 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for the Bucs.
Julio Jones and Cameron Brate caught touchdown passes and Chris Godwin had 10 receptions for 85 yards for the Buccaneers.
Cowboys kicker Brett Maher set an NFL post-season record by missing four extra-point attempts. Maher missed three to the right and one to the left.
Dallas didn’t record a first down on either of their first two possessions but traveled 80 yards on seven plays during their third time with the ball.
The Cowboys capped it when Prescott threw a 22-yard scoring pass to Schultz with just under six and a half minutes left in the opening quarter.
Tampa Bay had a chance to tie the score but Brady was intercepted in the end zone by Jayron Kearse on the second play of the second quarter.
Dallas responded with a 15-play, 80-yard drive that chewed over eight and a half minutes off the clock. Prescott scored the touchdown while cruising to the left on a one-yard run.
The Cowboys delivered an 11-play, 91-yard excursion later in the quarter. This time, Prescott hit Schultz on an 11-yard throw to make it 18-0 with 27 seconds left in the half.
Dallas continued their domination with another long drive in the third quarter. The Cowboys meandered 86 yards on eight plays, with Prescott hitting Gallup on a two-yard score. Maher’s fourth miss left the Dallas lead at 24.
Tampa Bay got on the board when Brady hit Jones with a 30-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the third quarter. The two-point conversion failed.
Due to Maher’s kicking problems, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy waved the kicking unit off on fourth-and-4 in the fourth quarter.
Instead, Dallas went for it and Prescott hit a wide-open Lamb for an 18-yard score with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Maher entered and kicked an extra point right down the middle.
