Drew Brees just seems to have Tom Brady’s number over both of their long storied careers. Brees is now 5-2 against Tom Brady in his career after a 38-3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night.
Slow Start
The Bucs scored no points in the first half, let alone get past the New Orleans 38 yard line. Meanwhile, the Saints scored 31 unanswered points in the first half. Brees threw three of the four touchdowns in the first half. These were thrown to Tre’Quan Smith, Adam Trautman, and Emmanuel Sanders. By the end of the night, Brees stat line looked like it came out of a Madden 21 game on Rookie mode. He went 26/32 for 222 yards while also throwing four touchdowns. There was one more touchdown in the first half, and it was a one yard sneak into the endzone courtesy of who else but Alvin Kamara. It is also worth mentioning that that the fourth Brees touchdown was in the second half, and it was received by Josh Hill. The Bucs could never recover.
Brady’s Night Off
Tom Brady did not come to play on Sunday Night for the first time in forever. But, you got to credit the Saints for how prepared they were. Brady’s troubles started immediately when he and the Buccaneers went three-and-out four straight times. Then, when the tides seemed to turn after he hit Tyler Johnson for an 11 yard gain, he threw a pick to David Onyemata. This pick set up yet another Saints touchdown drive. That made the score 28-0.
“We need to perform better, you know, at every time, 1:00, 4:00, 8:00, Monday Night, Sunday Night, doesn’t matter. They are going to schedule the game and we’re going to go out and play it”, Brady said in a press conference after Sunday night’s disastrous loss at the hands of the New Orleans Saints.
Then, after driving 37 yards down the field to the NO 38, they went for it on 4th and 6. But, Tom Brady missed Gronk on the right side and the Bucs came up empty. The next possession, Brady threw another pick in New Orleans territory to Marcus Williams. It was intended for the newbie, Antonio Brown. Brown finished with three catches for 31 yards in his Tampa Bay debut. It didn’t get any better in the second half.
Second Half Woes
After being set up at the NO 21 yard line because of a fumble, the Bucs got all the way down to the one, and couldn’t punch it in on fourth. On the ensuing drive, Brady threw another pick, this time to Malcolm Jenkins. Rob Gronkowski yet again was the intended target. Gronk finished with one catch for two yards, despite being targeted six times. But there is a silver lining. Brady did lead his team down the field to put at least three points on the board. This came by virtue of a 48 yard Ryan Succop field goal.
After the Saints turned the ball over on downs, the Bucs decided enough was enough, and they sent in backup QB Blaine Gabbert to take one last knee, thus ending a dreadful night f0r Tom Brady and the Bucs. Brady finished 22/38 for 209 yards, but with 3 picks. His QBR was a whopping 3.8!
Up Next
The Buccaneers look to get back in the win column as they clash with the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte at 1 PM.