Tom Brady Rushes off Field after Bucs Loss, Doesn't Shake Hands with Nick Foles Again

For the second time in almost three years Nick Foles had the better of Tom Brady and for the second time in almost three years the latter appeared to snub his rival as he walked off the field soon after the final whistle.

In his first start for the Chicago Bears, Foles led his team to a 20-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, erasing a 13-0 deficit in the process.

Brady, meanwhile, lost to the Bears for the first time in his career after spurning the chance of adding yet another comeback win to his stellar career when he appeared to lose track of downs with the Bucs trailing by a point and just over a minute left in the game.

"I know we needed a chunk and I was thinking about more yardage and it was bad execution," Brady said after the game. "I had a great opportunity there. Just didn't execute when we needed to."

As the final whistle went, the six-time Super Bowl champion swiftly made for the the tunnel on the northeast corner of Soldier Field that leads to the visitor locker room, without exchanging as much as a word with neither his teammates nor his opposing quarterback.

In the COVID-19 era, players have been specifically instructed to limit on-field interactions after the game and Foles suggested Brady was simply following the protocol.

"I didn't get a chance to say anything to him," the Bears quarterback told FOX after the game when asked whether he had spoken to his Bucs counterpart.

"We're obviously trying to keep our distance."

Nevertheless, Brady's decision to seemingly rush off the field was reminiscent of a scenario that unfolded when the duo met at Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, when Foles led the Philadelphia Eagles to a memorable upset win over the New England Patriots and was named Super Bowl MVP.

As Eagles players celebrated on the field, Brady headed directly to the locker room, a decision which he was subsequently strongly criticized for. The duo eventually met the following summer when the Patriots hosted the Eagles in a preseason game in New England, when Brady insisted he had never intended to snub Foles.

"That was never my intention," he said at the time.

"I wouldn't be a bad sport."

On Thursday night, Brady and Foles became the first two quarterbacks in NFL history to cross path in a regular season games while playing for teams different from those they represented when they met in the Super Bowl and there was little to separate the two.

Brady completed 25 of his 41 passes for 253 yards, one touchdown and an 86.7 passer rating, while Foles went 30-of-42 for 243 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception for an 83.7 passer rating.

The loss snapped Tampa Bay's winning run to three games and dropped the Bucs to 3-2, meaning the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers could draw level with them at the top of the NFC South with a win this weekend.

Meanwhile, the Bears rebounded from their first loss of the season to improve to 4-1 and consolidate second place in the NFC North behind the Green Bay Packers.