First Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht coaxed Bruce Arians out of retirement last year. Then it was Arians who sparked the idea this offseason -- and even spoke it into existence at February's NFL scouting combine, as far-fetched as it seemed at the time -- of signing six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady.
That chain of events and that "dream big, swing for the fences" mentality is largely responsible for helping the Bucs punch their first ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2007, ending the NFL's second-longest postseason drought at 13 seasons, with a 47-7 blowout win over the Detroit Lions on Saturday.
"It's just the beginning. Our goal when we started out, especially this year, was just to get in the dance. And now it's to win 11 games. And see where we stand and where we're going, know who we're playing," said Arians, who returns to the postseason for the first time since 2015, when he led the Arizona Cardinals to the 2015 NFC Championship game.
"You could feel -- this was the playoff practice week," he said, adding that he was "really, really proud" of the effort put in by his players. "Even with the holidays, they handled their business well."
Brady, appearing in his 300th game in the same city his career began -- Detroit, 20 years ago on Thanksgiving Day -- threw four touchdown passes and led five TD-scoring drives in the first half before giving way to backup Blaine Gabbert in the second half as the team compiled 588 yards of total offense -- the most in Buccaneers history.
"Anytime you have a 158 quarterback rating and throw for over 300 yards in the half, back-to-back, it's pretty special," Arians said. "And he's a pretty special player."
The 300-game milestone, achieved by just 11 other players in NFL history, wasn't lost on the 43-year-old Brady, nor was the significance that it happened 45 minutes down the road from Ann Arbor, where Brady's journey from seventh-string QB at Michigan helped forge one of the NFL's greatest Cinderella stories and one of the greatest underdog stories in all of professional sports.
"I love playing and the teammates that I have -- I always feel like I never want to let them down," Brady said. "I know it's been that way for 21 years of my career. I just try to show up and do the best I can do every week and every day, and realize that the competition isn't only on Sunday. The competition is every day of the week, and I've got a lot of guys on this team this year that have made a great commitment to one another, and we're committed to being the best we can be."
Brady put together the best first half of his career, completing 22 of 27 passes for 348 yards. He is the only player over the past 40 seasons with at least 240 passing yards and four TDs before halftime, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. (Brady also threw for 345 yards and five TDs in the first half against the Titans in 2009.)
"We've been scratching and clawing every single year to try to make the tournament," wide receiver Mike Evans said. "It's been seven years for me, nine for Lavonte [David] and eight for Will Gholston. It's been a journey, but we are happy we finally accomplished it, and that's just where it starts. We want to go as far as we can."
On the opening drive, Brady found tight end Rob Gronkowski on a deep fade route for a 33-yard touchdown, before hitting Evans on a go route for a 27-yard score on the next possession. It was the first time since Week 4 that the Bucs scored a touchdown on the opening drive, and the first time all season they scored a touchdown on their first two possessions.
Following a 4-yard touchdown run up the gut by Leonard Fournette -- who filled in for the second week in a row for Ronald Jones -- Brady hit Chris Godwin on a 7-yard crossing route for a one-armed, diving TD catch. Brady then delivered a 12-yard strike to Antonio Brown to make it 34-0 at the half.
Brady was particularly sharp on the deep ball -- an area of concern for many of his critics who said that, at 43, he didn't have the arm strength to orchestrate Arians' high-flying offense. Brady went 5-of-7 with the two TDs on passes of 20-plus air yards, matching his most such completions for an entire game over the past 15 seasons, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.
Evans caught 10 passes for 181 yards and two scores, and he now needs just 40 yards against Atlanta next weekend to become the first player in NFL history to record 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first seven seasons. Evans is tied with Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss as the only players with 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons.
"We knew -- especially [against] this team -- Tom went against this defense for 20 years in New England [with] all the calls and everything. He was very confident that we could get Mike the ball in this ballgame," Arians said, adding that the Buccaneers actually forced it to Evans in the second half.
"Every time Blaine [Gabbert] had a chance, we were going to try to get Mike that record. I was hoping he'd get it today and we wouldn't have to play him next week, but next week will take care of itself. I desperately want that to happen. Whatever he needs -- 50 [yards] or whatever he has left -- I'm sure Atlanta's not going to want to give it to him, so we'll have to find some creative ways to get it for him."
Also catching two TDs was Gronkowski, whom Brady lured out of a one-year retirement. Gronkowski tacked on a 25-yard touchdown catch from Gabbert on his first play in the third quarter.
Arians is one year removed from a 7-9 record in his first season, which came after back-to-back 5-11 campaigns under former coach Dirk Koetter. The Arizona Cardinals team Arians inherited had also gone 5-11 the previous season before he took over in 2013. His most recent playoff appearance was the 2015 NFC Championship Game, before a one-year retirement stint after the 2017 season.
Should the Los Angeles Rams fall to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday or the Arizona Cardinals next weekend, the Bucs would move into the fifth seed in the NFC, assuming the Bucs defeat the Falcons next weekend. That would pit them against the NFC East winner -- Washington currently leads that division -- in the opening round of the playoffs in two weeks.
But they have to take care of business against the Falcons, who led them 17-0 in the first half of Week 15 before Tampa Bay staged a 31-point comeback.
If Brady can get off to another hot start and match that second half in Atlanta with his first-half performance Saturday, the Bucs could start clicking and become a dangerous postseason team. But they've had few complete games all season.
"I know at different times we haven't played the way we're capable of playing, and when we do play the way we're capable of playing, we're pretty tough to beat," said Brady, whose soon-to-be 12 consecutive playoff seasons is the most in NFL history. "We've gotta figure out how to do it more consistently in the best possible way. We play another divisional opponent at home, and I'm gonna be excited to get out there to play and see what we can accomplish."