Tom Brady pulled off one of the most impressive comeback wins of of his career on Sunday, but despite those heroics, the Buccaneers decided to give the game ball to someone else following the team's 16-13 win over the Rams.
After the game, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles announced in the locker room that the game ball would be going to Jake Camarda. Yup, the game ball went to a punter.
Here's a look at Bowles making the announcement, and as you'll be able to tell, it seems that pretty much everyone in the locker room was on board with the coach's decision to give the game ball to Camarda.
"Camarda was huge," Bowles said after the game, via the team's official website. "I mean we gave him the game ball. He was huge today. Without him punting that ball and changing the field position, we'd probably be in some tough situations."
When a legendary quarterback gets outshined by his own punter, that obviously means that the punter must have had a huge day and that's what happened here. With the Buccaneers offense stalling for the better part of four quarters, Camarda kept Tampa Bay in the game by blasting big punt after big punt.
The Buccaneers rookie punted the ball six times for 357 yards. Camarda averaged 59.2 yards per kick and 54.2 net yards per punt, which were both franchise records (To put that net punting stat into perspective, the NFL's current leader is averaging 47.3 yards).
Camarda's biggest kick came on a 74-yard punt in the third quarter where he completely flipped the field. The rookie blasted his punt from his own 15-yard line down to the Rams' 11, where the ball went out of bounds.
Besides that kick, Camarda also had a 66-yard punt in the game AND a 68-yard punt, which means he now has three of the eight longest punts in Buccaneers history and he hit them all in one game.
Camarda's net punting stats actually could have been even better if not for a controversial call in the fourth quarter. His 66-yard punt was ruled a touchback even though it didn't appear to go in the end zone.
The ball appeared to bounce at the one-inch line before going sideways and staying in the field of play. However, officials ruled that the ball hit the goal line, which made it a touchback. Even with the touchback, Camarda still pinned the Rams inside the 20-yard line with four of his six punts. As if that's not impressive enough, Camarda recorded two special teams tackles in the win.
The Buccaneers raised a few eyebrows around the league when they selected Camarda in the fourth-round of the 2022 NFL Draft, but it's a pick that is clearly paying off so far this year.