Tom Brady Says 'Everything's Got to Be Better' After Buccaneers Defeat Panthers

Tom Brady notched his first victory as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer on Sunday, but he knows his team still has plenty of work in front of it to compete in the NFC.

"We've all got to execute better," he told reporters when asked about dropped passes from the 31-17 win over the Carolina Panthers. "At the end of the day, it's an execution game ... Everything's got to be better."

He added, "We're a long ways from where we need to be."

While there were some issues for the entire team to clean up, including Brady's third interception in two games, Tampa Bay looked much better than it did in a Week 1 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Brady threw for 217 yards and found Mike Evans for a touchdown, Leonard Fournette ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and the defense picked off Teddy Bridgewater twice while holding the Panthers scoreless in the first half.

Drops may not be as much of a concern when Chris Godwin, who didn't play Sunday, returns to the lineup and forms one of the best one-two punches in the league with Evans.

That Brady is focused on what needs to improve instead of celebrating the win is far from surprising considering he came from that type of culture with the New England Patriots and won six Super Bowls as arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history.

By contrast, Tampa Bay has not even made the playoffs since the 2007 campaign and is coming off three consecutive losing seasons.

Part of the appeal of Brady for the Buccaneers was his ability to immediately change the culture into a winning one, and he is doing just that if Sunday's comments are any indication.