Tom Brady doesn't lose two games to open a season.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback improved to 4-0 in his career in Week 2 starts following a Week 1 loss with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 31-17 victory over the Carolina Panthers. TB12 is also 49-13 since 2001 after a loss.
It wasn't perfect for Brady, who completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 217 yards, a TD and an INT, but coach Bruce Arians was pleased with what he saw from his quarterback.
"I think he has a pretty good history of that," Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians said of Brady's bounce-back performance, via ESPN's Jenna Laine. "This game should never have got as close as it did. We let 'em back in. But I thought he played outstanding. His leadership on the sideline was great, and he put us in the right play [on] a number of different audibles. He played really, really well."
With Chris Godwin out due to a concussion, Brady leaned on Mike Evans, who earned seven catches for 104 yards and a TD. No other pass-catcher reached the 50-yard mark, and Brady is still working things out with his corps. Brady started the season with a passer rating below 100 in Weeks 1 and 2 for the first time since 2013 (the Patriots started 2-0 that season).
"Execution was a little bit better. I think we still are a long ways from where we need to be," Brady said. "I think we have the ability to make plays. I think consistency, dependability are gonna be things that we really need. We've gotta get back to work. Clock's ticking on next week. We're gonna get focused on next week's game and try to be a lot better next week."
Much of Brady's production came in the first half. He completed just 6-of-12 passes for 19 yards with an INT in the second half against Carolina. The Bucs, however, were able to lean on Leonard Fournette and the ground game to squash a Panthers comeback attempt.
"It's going to take time, and with having no preseason and all those practices we missed, we're just growing day by day with Tom, the receivers and the entire offense," Arians said. "I think we'll just get better and better. We're nowhere near -- I think -- what we are in September, what I think we'll be in November."
Brady is used to his teams using September and some of October to figure themselves out before steamrolling through the back half of the slate. Not much has changed in that regard with his relocation to Tampa.
