Tom Brady never experienced a five touchdown defeat in his 25 years of playing professional and college football -- until Sunday. Brady's 35-point loss to the New Orleans Saints was the largest loss of his career, never having a greater margin of defeat in his 29 games at the University of Michigan and his 283 starts in the NFL.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell 38-3 to the Saints in what was Brady's worst game of the year. Brady finished 22 of 38 for 209 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions with a 40.3 passer rating. This was the first time Brady has thrown three or more interceptions in a game since Week 3 vs the Bills in 2011, which snapped a streak of 145 consecutive games with 10+ pass attempts and fewer than three interceptions -- the longest such streak by any player since at least 1950. Of Brady's seven interceptions on the season, five have come against the Saints.
Brady was never swept by a divisional opponent in his 19 seasons as a NFL starting quarterback until Sunday -- and he had to get out of the AFC East for the streak to end. The Buccaneers quarterback lost both contests to the Saints in 2020, completing 60.8% of his passes for two touchdowns and five interceptions while being sacked seven times. Against everyone else this season, Brady has completed 66.5% of his passes with 18 touchdowns to just two interceptions while being sacked seven times -- sporting a 6-1 record.
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"It was shocking," said Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians on Brady's performance. "To watch us practice the way we practiced all week and the confidence we had coming in — we have to go back and look in the mirror as coaches, players, everybody, from yesterday to today. Another [game] where we go three-and-out and give up a touchdown [to begin the game]. Second half, I thought we got the turnover and we don't score a touchdown. I thought that kind of was the end of it right then and there. Give New Orleans credit — they kicked our [butts] in every phase."
The 40.4 passer rating was the third-lowest in a game in Brady's career, his lowest since Week 9 of the 2006 season against the Indianapolis Colts. Brady threw four interceptions in that loss while finishing with a passer rating of 34.0. He's only thrown 3+ interceptions in a game nine times.
"I certainly have to play a lot better," Brady said. "Turning the ball over against good teams never helps. We just didn't play the way we were capable of playing. Everyone's got to do a lot better, and it starts with me. Get back to work tomorrow morning and try to make it a better week."
