There were more than a few memorable moments throughout Sunday night's NFC Championship Game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers. For Tom Brady and the Bucs, however, one that had to stand out was their momentum-grabbing play to end the first half. It was a huge gamble made by Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians — one that paid off and proved to be the difference on the evening.

After the game, Arians shared his thought process in deciding to go for broke in that particular instance, which eventually led to Brady hitting Scotty Miller with a 39-yard touchdown for the Buccaneers to close the half. According to Arians, it was a split-second call he had to make in the moment:

“Well, I thought we had . . . “ Arians said from his coaches locker room post-game, trying to explain it perfectly, via NBC Sports. “I thought about this scenario: I knew who we were playing. I knew we needed points. The decision had to come fast, but I was like, ‘No we gotta—we have to get points out of this drive.’ So I called to put the offense back out there. In that situation, I thought our defense would hold if we went for it and failed. But I did know if we fail, we leave them a play or two and a chance to kick a field goal. But I just thought to myself, ‘A field goal here’s not gonna cost us the game.’ I know I’d get super-criticized if we get stopped and they get a field goal, but that’s one of those decisions you’re paid to make. I liked our chances.

“I knew they’d play to stop us from getting the field goal. We maxed protection. As soon as we lined up and we saw the defense, I knew we had a touchdown. All we had to do was block them, and throw and catch. I loved the call.”

True enough, Arians' decision paid dividends for the Buccaneers as they entered the break with a 10-point advantage. They never looked back.

After the game, Brady himself spoke highly of Arians and how important this call turned out to be:

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“Huge decision [Arians] made,” said Brady. “That’s how he is—he has so much confidence in his players, a great belief in what we can accomplish.”

Arians, Brady, and the rest of the Bucs will once again need to be at the top of their game come Feb. 7 when they face off against the defending champs, the Kansas City Chiefs, in Super Bowl LV. We're certain that Arians will enter that matchup with his tactics in place, but whether or not they will be able to execute it against a formidable Chiefs side is an altogether different question.