Quarterback Tom Brady suffered a loss Sunday that measures up with his worst-ever.
The Tampa Bay signal-caller threw three interceptions and tallied a quarterback rating of 40.4 as his Buccaneers fell flat in a 38-3 home loss to the New Orleans Saints at Raymond Jones Stadium.
Brady had never lost a game by 35 points in his career. The 43-year-old’s worst loss in terms of point differential was when his then-New England Patriots were shutout 31-0 by the Buffalo Bills in 2003, according to ESPN.
“Speaking for tonight, one was tipped on a screen pass. You hate to have those happen, but the guy made a good play. Then, on fourth down, I kind of threw it up in the air. The other one, I definitely saw something and kind of predetermined what I thought was going to happen and made a bad play,” Brady told reporters after the game, per the team.
“So, I certainly have to play a lot better. 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.”
With Sunday’s NFC South result, the Buccaneers were swept by the 6-2 Saints in division play. It was the first time Brady has ever been swept by a division rival in a single regular-season, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
“It’s about playing better and execution,” Brady said. “We all have to do our job a lot better. When you play good teams, there’s little margin of error. They’ve been a great team for a long time. They’ve got a lot of good players. If we’re going to beat them, we’re going to have to play a lot better than we played tonight.”
The 6-3 Buccaneers will face the Carolina Panthers on Sunday in another NFC South clash.
