Tom Brady: Bucs Showed 'Great Poise' in Overcoming 17-Point Deficit vs. Falcons

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady helped engineer a 17-point comeback to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 31-27 on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and he attributed the victory to the attitude of his team.

"It was great poise by everybody," he said, per Greg Auman of The Athletic. 

The Buccaneers trailed 17-0 at halftime but outscored the Falcons 21-7 in the third quarter before a 10-point final frame sealed the deal for the Bucs to improve to 9-5. They need just one more win to make the postseason. 

Brady threw for 390 yards and two touchdowns, completing 31 of 45 passes. He found Antonio Brown and Chris Godwin on his scoring passes, while Mike Evans grabbed six balls for 110 yards. Leonard Fournette rushed for two scores and 49 yards on 14 carries. 

Per NFL Research, the comeback was the fourth for Brady after trailing by at least 17 points, leading all quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era.

The most recent of those victories also came against Ryan and the Falcons and on the game's biggest stage. In Super Bowl LI, Brady led the Patriots to a 34-28 overtime victory after they were down 21-3 at the half. 

The Falcons have been on the losing end of a number of comebacks this season. They blew a 26-10 lead in the final seven minutes against the Chicago Bears in September, and they lost to the Dallas Cowboys after dropping a 20-point lead. They became the first team in league history to lose twice in a season after holding a lead of at least 15 points in the final quarter, according to Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN). 

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn, who was also the coach during Atlanta's Super Bowl loss, was fired after the team's 0-5 start to the season.