It never ends the way you wanted it to, but in life, all good things must come to an end, which might be the case for the great Tom Brady.

On Monday night in Tampa Bay, Brady and the Buccaneers were ousted from the playoffs as they fell to the Cowboys 31-14 in the Wild Card round.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion struggled. He was 35/66 for 351 yards, two touchdowns, and a costly red zone interception. The 66 attempts were the most in his 23-year career. Conversely, for Dallas, Dak Prescott threw for 305 yards and five touchdowns, including one on the ground.

In his NFL record 48th playoff game, Brady knew the Bucs did not deserve to win.

“Not the way we wanted to end it, but we didn’t deserve it,” he said after the loss. “I give them a lot of credit; they played a good game – made a lot more plays than we did. So, tough night.” 

After falling behind 6-0 in the first quarter, Brady and the Buccaneers had an opportunity to take the lead early in the second quarter. However, on 2nd & goal from the five-yard line, Brady’s pass was intercepted by Jayron Kearse in the end zone. 

“I was trying to throw it to Chris [Godwin], and the other guys were blocking and just tried to throw it out and didn’t obviously get enough on it,” Brady said. “That certainly didn’t help our cause.”

Unfortunately, it was all bad for the Buccaneers the rest of the way.

Now, Brady and the Buccaneers focus on next season, and at age 45, it might be time for Brady to think about what’s next. Brady did not talk about the future after the game, but he did thank the Tampa Bay media, which could indicate that his time could be done in Tampa Bay, but it doesn’t mean his time in the NFL could be done.

Here’s the question, if you’re an NFL team and you watched soon-to-be free agent Brady against the Cowboys and his play this season, do you really believe he can help you win? Probably not, but if he decides to come back, some team will take a chance on him.

At this point, there’s nothing for Brady to prove. He’s the G.O.A.T., and has done it all. However, if he wants to continue on, he can’t tarnish his legacy because his legacy is complete.