Brady praises Fournette after RB fuels Buccaneers comeback

Tom Brady hailed running back Leonard Fournette's "huge" speech, which inspired the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a rallying 38-31 road victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Reigning NFL Super Bowl champions the Buccaneers needed a spark after entering the half-time break trailing the Colts 24-14 in Indianapolis on Sunday.

Fournette provided the motivation with an impassioned half-time speech and a career-high four touchdowns as the Buccaneers powered past the Colts.

Brady: "They just made big play after big play"

"[It was] huge. They just made big play after big play. That's what it takes to win," said Brady, who posted his 51st game-winning drive, three shy of Peyton Manning's all-time record.

"You have to make the plays. There's not a lot of margin of error. There are really well-coached teams that have a lot of good players, and everyone's working hard to win.

"So, you're either going to make the play or you don't. And we didn't make them as much in the first half, but we certainly made them in the second half."

Buccaneers superstar Brady completed 25 of his 34 passes for 226 yards, a touchdown and interception as NFC South leaders Tampa Bay (8-3) edged a see-sawing battle.

It was Brady's first victory against the Colts since joining the Bucs in 2020.

"Not a lot of love lost, I think," Brady said, referring to his rivalry with the Colts. "It was good to win.

Fournette: "You have to have a will and a want"

"I was like, 'You have to have a will and a want,' said Fournette of his speech. "'You have to be willing to risk everything. Play by play, you have to want to win, you have to want to fight, each and every play.' I think they understood that message and played their lights out."

"You could tell the mood -- people's energy was down. And it wasn't like we [were] out there getting our asses whooped. It's just the little things separating us to win the game from them," Fournette said. "So just trying to boost everybody coming out. And thank God it worked."

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians added:" Great win. Coming here, this is a hard, hard place to win and [we] beat a really good playoff team that's playing good. It wasn't pretty the first 30 but it was real pretty the second 30.

"Good team victory – getting turnovers, scoring off turnovers. One of our better halves of football in the second half."