Bill Belichick and Tom Brady shared a brief embrace on the field following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' thrilling 19-17 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday night in Foxboro. With the media swarming in, the two exchanged an awkward bro-hug and then went their separate ways. Almost too on-brand.
But Belichick reportedly had a much longer interaction with Brady inside the visitors locker room -- they spoke privately for about 20 minutes -- and former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson believes that this meeting brought closure.
"Talk about a great Belichick move, and it's a move that Bill has in his arsenal. Definitely something that he's capable of doing," Johnson told The DA Show on Tuesday. "My feeling is he owned a lot of stuff, he apologized... my feeling is Bill went in there and said, 'Hey, let's just clear the air.' I bet that was very cathartic. And Bill Belichick, he has that in him.
"He can be so hard to deal with, he can be cold-blooded, he can shut you out, he can play mental games. But when he wants to be human and wants to actually connect with a person, he can do that. My feeling is, that's what Tom needed... I bet there's closure with Tom now more than there's ever been in that relationship, because Bill extended himself and put himself out there..."
Belichick's defensive gameplan -- combined with torrential rain and emotions from the reunion -- disrupted Brady's flow. The 44-year-old veteran completed just 22 of 43 passes for 269 yards with no touchdowns, and the Buccaneers' offense failed to score at least 20 points with Brady for just the third time.
Perhaps the Belichick-Brady meeting would've been different if New England had won the game. With 59 seconds left in the fourth quarter, trailing by two, Nick Folk missed a go-ahead, 56-yard field goal, sealing the win for Tampa. The Patriots' chances of converting on a 4th-and-3 from the 37-yard line (52-percent) were higher than making the kick (45-percent), per Next Gen Stats.
New England (1-3) will visit the Houston Texans (1-3) in a Week 5 matchup on Sunday, Oct. 10. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Patriots have just a 23-percent chance to reach the playoffs and a 9-percent chance to win the AFC East.
The entire Belichick-Brady conversation between Johnson and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
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