Tom Brady may be having second thoughts about leaving the AFC East. He’s been swept in two meetings with a real division rival for the very first time in his 19 years as a starter, having fallen short to the New Orleans Saints in their 38-3 victory over his Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It was a masterful game by the Saints, who outcoached Tampa Bay in every phase of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. Brady was sacked three times, intercepted three times, and limited to a passer rating of just 40.4
For context, all three of the Saints quarterbacks to throw a pass rated better: Drew Brees (135.2), Taysom Hill (118.8), and even Jameis Winston (116.7), the former Buccaneers first-overall draft pick that they gave up on after his first year in head coach Bruce Arians’ turnover-prone system. Nearly every quarterback he’s ever coached set a career-high in interceptions in their first year, and Brady is well on his way with seven picks in his first nine games.
So Winston had to feel good to get to close out the game with the Saints’ reserves in mop-up duty, kneeling out the clock at the stadium he helped put on the map. It just might end up becoming a nice start to his own Saints career.
The Saints are 6-2 now, with a pair of tiebreaking wins over these upstart Buccaneers. Maybe it sets them up for a third confrontation in the playoffs.
