Play.
Leonard Fournette scored 4 times as the Bucs defeated the Colts.
Leonard Fournette scored with 20 seconds left in the game to give the Buccaneers a win over the Colts. (1:13)
7:44 PM
Leonard Fournette had four touchdown runs, including a 28-yarder with 29 seconds left, and gave an emotional halftime speech that helped propel the team to a 38-31 road victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
In order to repeat as Super Bowl champion, the Bucs have had to overcome a number of obstacles this year, including losing three games on the road.
"I told him to have a will and a want," said Fournette, who rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries and added eight catches for 31 yards. You have to be willing to take risks. You have to want to fight and play by play. I think they understood the message and played their lights out.
In the first half, the Bucs struggled to find their rhythm on offense, turning over the ball twice, the first on a Chris Godwin fumbled on third down, and the second on a Tom Brady pass intended for Scotty Miller.
Sean Murphy-Bunting was beaten on a 62-yard touchdown by Ashton Dulin. They gave up a 16-yard scramble to Carson Wentz on third-and-15, and then a 22-yard reception to Jack Doyle on third-and-10 that set up a 4-yard touchdown from T.Y. Hilton just before halftime.
Jonathan Taylor had just eight carries in the first half, but he was expected to run the ball more.
People's energy was down. It wasn't like we were getting our ass whooped. Fournette said that the little things separated them from the other team. It's just trying to boost everybody. Thank God it worked.
Fournette's teammates were inspired by his words.
"He just told us to keep fighting, and that's what we did," said safety Antoine Winfield Jr., who made a leaping pick-six on a jump ball. We have control of our own destiny and we have to step up and win games like this.
"He definitely said some things that got us going," said outside linebacker Shaq Barrett, who recorded a sack-forced fumbled off Wentz that he recovered in the third quarter. One of the reasons he came back was that he said we were a special group. We can play a special group. We have to show it. Show it and play with it.
Brady said that the speech was huge. They made big plays after big plays. That's what it takes to win. You have to make plays. There isn't much margin of error. Everyone is working hard to win on well-coached teams that have a lot of good players. Either you make the play or you don't. In the first half, we didn't make them as much, but in the second half, we did.
Fournette set a personal record and tied a franchise record.
We were watching him run and do great things with the ball. "It makes us feel better on the sideline." It makes us want to play better when we see him running.
He spoke at halftime, got us going, and then came out and talked about everything he was talking about. I'm thankful that he did what he did at the end of the game to seal it for us, because he was playing good the whole game, making plays the whole game, and that was the difference in the game for us.
It was great, added Rob Gronkowski, who caught seven passes for 123 receiving yards. Everyone was fired up by it. It shows how much we respect him when he backed it up.
We were flat in the first half. The energy wasn't there. We played as a team in the second half, with the defense creating turnovers, the offense scoring, and we just stuck together. That was a playoff caliber win, to have a win on the road.
The Atlanta Falcons are the only road game left for the Bucs at 8-3, but coach Bruce Arians believes Sunday marked a turning point in their season as they continue to compete for top playoff seeding.
"I don't think there's a doubt," he said. I don't think we're going to play any tougher road games.
