Everything Tom Brady said after Tampa Bay Bucs lost to Dallas Cowboys in wildcard playoffs

Everything Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Tom Brady said after losing 31-14 to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC wild card game on Monday at Raymond James Stadium.

Quotes courtesy of the Tampa Bay media relations department.

(Opening statement)

“Not the way we wanted to end it, but we didn’t deserve it. I give them a lot of credit, they played a good game – made a lot more plays than we did. So, tough night.”

(On if the Cowboys did anything defensively that was surprising from a scheme standpoint)

“They played pretty [well]. They played [well] defensively and put a lot of pressure on us and we just couldn’t make enough plays. Kind of typical of the way we played all year – just inefficient in the passing game and not very good in the run game. It’s hard to beat good teams like that.”

(On his rare red zone interception and if he was trying to throw the ball away)

“I was. I was trying to throw it to Chris [Godwin] and the other guys were blocking and just tried to throw it out and didn’t obviously get enough on it. That certainly didn’t help our cause.”

(On what having C Ryan Jensen back out there meant for the team)

“Yeah, just super proud of him and all that he’s gone through this year. It was a tough injury that he had and battled all the way back and really committed himself the last six to eight weeks to prepare himself to play, and did it. So, it says a lot about who he is, and he’s certainly a guy you can depend on and count on.”

(On his process of deciding what comes next)

“I’m going to go home and get a good night’s sleep, as good as I can tonight.”

(On when he’ll start to figure things out)

“[There] has been a lot of focus on this game, so yeah. It’s just been one day at a time – truly.”

(On how hard it is to face the finality of falling short)

“Yeah, always tough, but we didn’t earn it. [The Cowboys] did. I think there’s a part of football where I feel like it’s – sometimes you get lucky, but most of the time, the team that earns it wins and they played [well] all year. They played [well] tonight, they played well as a team, they were very coordinated, they played well on offense, they played well defensively. They missed some kicks on special teams, but we just couldn’t get enough done offensively to put any pressure on them.”

(On his biggest takeaway from this season)

“Yeah, I think there’s lessons for all of us in every year, of every year of our life. You always want every year to end great, unfortunately in sports, it doesn’t work that way. There are 32 teams in the league and they’re all very competitive. Only one of them is really going to really feel good at the end of the year. So, for as may teams that won [this week], there’s going to be seven of the eight that don’t feel great at the end of the year. That’s why it feels good when you’re on top – when you win it all. It’s a great feeling.”

(On how he would characterize his season)

“You know, we lost tonight – it’s a team sport. So, I’ve never considered any individual things like that, and obviously we came up short as a team. That’s really all that matters. That’s all I’ve really cared about was team success and how well we did as a team, how well we performed under pressure – and tonight was obviously not one of our best nights.”

(On not taking as many shots downfield)

“They were playing pretty deep most of the night, you know? We were trying to hold the ball and the problem is, they were getting there pretty quick at certain times in the rush and then you don’t hold it for that long. At the end of the drive we had some shots, so made a couple plays, but obviously –“

(On if his emotions are any different at the end of this season)

“Yeah, it just feels like the end of the season.”

(Closing statement)

“I just want to say thank you guys for everything this year. I really appreciate all of your effort and I know it’s hard for you guys, too. It’s hard for us players to make it through and you guys have a tough job. I appreciate all you guys do to cover us and everyone who watches and [is] a big fan of the sport, we’re very grateful for everyone’s support. Hopefully… I love this organization, it’s a great place to be. Thank you everybody for welcoming me – all you regulars – and just very grateful for the respect and hope I gave the same thing back to guys, so thank you very much. Appreciate it.”