A week after barely escaping a horrific Monday night performance against the Giants with a win, the Buccaneers had a golden opportunity to get things right on Sunday night.
The Saints visited for what was billed as an epic Brady and Brees matchup. Instead, it turned into a nightmare scenario for Bruce Arians, Brady and the Bucs.
Brees and the Saints punched the Buccaneers in the mouth and they never responded. Tampa Bay went out with a whimper losing 38-3.
Brady and the Buccaneers (6-3) dropped all the way down to the five spot in the NFC playoff picture, while the Saints (6-2) are right back in the thick of not only the NFC South race but the top seed in the NFC. Byes have been critical to Brady’s success in past postseasons, and with only one per conference this year, Sunday’s embarrassing loss could have huge ramifications in January.
“I don’t think our confidence is shaken one bit. I think it’s playing night games and getting better prepared for them the day of the game,” Arians said, pointing out that for some reason Tampa Bay has been brutal in them. “It’s a recurring theme with all three night games – it’s [beginning the game with] three-and-out and you give up a touchdown. I’ve got to do something in our preparation to change that, but I don’t think our confidence is shaken.”
The Bucs offense was putrid from the opening whistle on Sunday. The Saints led 31-0 at halftime on Brees TD passes to Tre’Quan Smith, Adam Trautman and Emmanuel Sanders. Alivin Kamara added a 1-yard run and Will Lutz chipped in with a 36-yard field goal.
Meanwhile, Brady’s first four possessions ended in punts – ALL OF THEM – were three-and-outs. Possessions five and six ended in an interception and a turnover on downs. Brady’s final possession of the half ended in another interception, his third of the first half. Brady ended the night 22-38 for 209 yards and the three picks.
The Saints alone have picked off Tom Brady five times this year, he has six interceptions total.
“I certainly have to play better,” Brady said postgame. “Turning the ball over against a good team never helps. We just didn’t play the way we’re capable of playing. Everyone’s got to do a lot better and it starts with me.”
The obvious quick fix answer as to why the Bucs’ offense looked so bad would be to say Antonio Brown messed with the chemistry. Brown caught three balls for 31 yards, but he was nowhere near the only problem for the lackluster performance.
“”I think it was just one play [with a miscommunication]. The rest of the time, Tom made a couple good throws [and Brown] made some really good catches,” said Arians. “The first third down, we should have went to him [but] decided to go to Gronk (Rob Gronkowski). I think he played more than I wanted him to because of the situation of the game. For his first ballgame, he did fine.”
This was the worst loss of Tom Brady’s illustrious career. So, are the Buccaneers going to revert to their old ways and let this one turn into a three or four game losing streak? Or, will Brady be able to rid the franchise of their losing qualities?
He better decide quickly, the Saints are now neck-and-neck with Tampa Bay and that all important bye is no longer a certainty.
“It’s about playing better and execution,” he said. “We all have to do our job a lot better. “When you play good teams there’s little margin for error. (The Saints) have been a good team for a really long time with a lot of good players. In order for us to beat them we’re going to have to be a lot better than we played tonight.”