TAMPA, Fla. — The brooms were needed to clean up the mess the Bucs made in an embarrassing 38-3 loss to the Saints last Sunday night at home.
During his 20 seasons with the Patriots in the AFC East, Tom Brady had never been swept in a series by the Dolphins, Jets or Bills. He dominated those teams with a combined 86-22 record, a stunning .761 winning percentage.
After only three division games with the Bucs, Brady is 1-2 heading into Sunday's rematch with Carolina. The NFC South is a division ruled by Pro Bowl quarterbacks who frequently pilot one of their teams to the conference championship game or Super Bowl.
Halfway through this season, Brady has come to realize he's not in the AFC Least anymore.
"It's a tough division," Brady said of his new rivals. "There's a lot of good players. Good quarterbacks. You've got to be on it every week."
The 6-3 overall record represents the Bucs' best start since Raheem Morris' 2010 team finished third in the division at 10-6 and missed the playoffs. Yet the Bucs are likely staring at a wild-card playoff spot, at best, since they trail the Saints by a game in the standings and would lose the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Since its inception in 2002, the NFC South has been controlled by the Saints, who hold six division titles and reached the playoffs eight times. They participated in the NFC Championship Game in 2006, 2009 and 2018. Quarterback Drew Brees' Saints beat the Colts in Super Bowl 44.
The Falcons have reached the postseason eight times in that span. They won the division on four of those occasions, played in the conference championship three times and blew a 28-3 lead to Brady and the Patriots in losing Super Bowl 51.
The Panthers had most of their success with quarterback Cam Newton, who led them to four postseason appearances. Carolina has reached the conference championship game three times since 2002 and lost twice in the Super Bowl, including once to Brady in Super Bowl 38.
The Bucs, meanwhile, have gone 12 seasons without a playoff appearance after dominating the division when it began in 2002. That season, Jon Gruden took over from Tony Dungy, then won the NFC South three times, including his first year when the Bucs beat the Raiders in Super Bowl 37.
By contrast: since 2002, the Patriots and Brady were fixtures in the postseason. New England earned a playoff spot 16 times, played in the conference championship game on a dozen occasions and reached the Super Bowl eight times, winning five.
Brady noted two major differences from the AFC East to the NFC South: the weather and quarterback play.
The Saints and Falcons play in domes, even though Mercedes-Benz Stadium has a partially retractable roof. The Panthers and Bucs enjoy mostly warm weather year round with a few exceptions in Charlotte, N.C., in December.
Brady is used to slogging through snow, sleet, ice and rain during the winter months in the Northeast. Not exactly ideal conditions for throwing the football.
"Definitely, there's a lot of offense in the NFC South," Brady said. "So you've got to be on. There are good conditions for scoring. It's a little different from where I've been where a lot of times games dictated a certain style of play based on the weather conditions — wind, rain, snow. (Here) conditions are ideal for scoring pretty much every week. We've had a few tough weather games. Actually, we had more wind than we're used to and a little precipitation."
Quarterback play may be the most important factor in winning NFL games. At 41, Brees doesn't have as many Super Bowl rings as Brady but he fills up the Wikipedia page. He's a two-time NFL offensive player of the year, was named to 13 Pro Bowls, a Super Bowl champion and the Walter Payton Man of the Year.
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was a first-round pick in 2008 spent 13 years in Atlanta. He was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2016, the same season his team blew a huge lead and lost to Brady in the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
Until last season, Newton directed the Panthers. He was the NFL's Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year in 2015 when he lost to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50.
Now, steady Teddy Bridgewater has taken over at Carolina and is playing at a high level despite the team's 3-6 record. Last week, the Panthers lost by a field goal at Kansas City.
The Dolphins, Bills and Jets have had no stability at quarterback. Miami has had 18 different men under center since Brady began his career a sixth-round pick in 2000. The list of quarterbacks include A.J. Feeley, Ray Lucas, Sage Rosenfels, Daunte Culpepper and Joey Harrington. The Jets countered with Mark Sanchez, Chad Pennington and Greg McElroy. The Bills trotted out the likes of Trent Edwards, Ryan Fitzpatrick and EJ Manuel before upgrading with Josh Allen.
In fact, the Dolphins have had only three winning records since 2002, reaching the playoffs twice. They won the AFC East in 2008, primarily because Brady tore his ACL in the season opener and was lost for the year. The other two times they lost in the wild-card round.
The Bills haven't won the division since Brady arrived in the NFL. They were a wild-card team in 2017 and 2019, but lost in their first playoff game.
The Jets? Ah, the Jets. They haven't sniffed the postseason since 2010 but were Brady's biggest rival in the AFC East, winning it in 2002. That was their first of five playoff appearances.
Brady played poorly in his two losses to the Saints this season, throwing five of his seven interceptions against them.
But he clearly still has what it takes to win consistently. The first season in the NFC South was never going to be an easy adjustment, compounded by the pandemic that prevented offseason workouts and preseason games.
Much of the blame for the struggle last week against the Saints will fall on offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.
Despite Joe Haeg having to start at left guard for Ali Marpet (concussion), Leftwich ran the ball only four times. Yes, the Bucs fell behind early, but Brady was under siege as they went three-and-out on their first four possessions.
"We were joking, understanding that if we don't score 30 or 40 (points), something is probably wrong," Leftwich said. "That's how the world views us. We understand that. We've just got to work. Remember that everything we try to do, we try to win football games. Really don't really care about the score, to be honest with you."
The lack of continuity is a big factor, Brady says. He had it with Bill Belichick in New England. Brees has it with Sean Payton in New Orleans.
The Bucs will need to beat Carolina and win the following Monday night (Nov. 23) against the Rams at Raymond James Stadium to keep pace with the Saints (6-2). It's a crucial three-week stretch that culminates with a Nov. 29 game against the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
In December, the Bucs have two games with the Falcons, who have won three of their four games since Morris took over as interim head coach.
Without winning the remaining games in the division, the Bucs will have a tough time catching the Saints.
It will be an odd feeling for Brady. The only thing he's used to seeing swept is confetti.
