In first game as a Buc, there was nothing terrific about Tom Brady

Nothing about 2020 makes sense, and that applies to the NFL as well. Brady is a Buccaneer now, operating on a different side of the universe from the Patriots. His first touchdown as a Buc came with his feet, when he converted his trademark QB sneak up the middle for a 2-yard score in the first quarter. Brady’s second score went to the Saints, when Brady airmailed an outlet pass to the sideline that Janoris Jenkins jumped and returned 36 yards for a pick-6.

And Brady, owner of a career .768 win percentage, is strangely on the wrong side of yet another crushing, borderline humiliating defeat. Add in the Week 17 home loss to the Dolphins and the wild-card home loss to the Titans, and Brady is now in the midst of a three-game losing streak for just the second time in his career. Brady lost four straight games between Weeks 4-7 in 2002.

Brady has also thrown a pick-6 in three straight games. Strange times, indeed.

“I’ve lost plenty of games in my career,” a dejected Brady said after the game. “I know I don’t like it but it happens. So we just go to do a better job.”

Brady finished the day with 239 passing yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and three sacks for a 78.4 passer rating. Counterpart Drew Brees only threw for 160 yards, but he didn’t commit a turnover.

Brady, obviously disappointed in the outcome following six months of hype, said he didn’t like the quiet atmosphere in the Superdome without any fans.

“It felt like a scrimmage out there, but obviously it counts, and I think we’re all disappointed it didn’t go our way,” he said.

The Bucs were sloppy all game, committing nine penalties for 103 yards and only converting 5-of-13 attempts on third down.

“He came out lighting it up, we go right down the field and score a touchdown,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said. “So I wouldn’t say he was out of sync at all until we started screwing it up.”

Brady certainly didn’t help matters with some careless throws and miscommunications with his receivers.

Brady, who famously struggled to connect with new receivers while in New England, struggled to connect all day with his receivers. Gronkowski, also making his Bucs debut, had just two catches for 11 yards and was a nonfactor.

And Brady’s first interception of the day came on a miscommunication with Evans. Arians said Brady thought Evans was going down the middle, but Evans checked up.

Who was right, the quarterback or the receiver? In New England, we’d never know. But Brady better get used to the fact that Arians isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.

“Mike read it right,” Arians said. “Tom just overthrew it.”

Brady apparently was also at fault for his second interception, the pick-6 to Jenkins early in the third quarter that made it 24-7 Saints. Arians said the Bucs called a screen pass with an outlet to receiver Scotty Miller along the sideline.

“He threw the outlet and it was a pick-6,” Arians said. “Bad decision.”

It certainly wasn’t pretty on Sunday. Brady hit Godwin six times for 79 yards, and Miller — who draws comparisons to great Patriots slot receivers like Julian Edelman and Wes Welker – had five catches for 73 yards.

But Brady had nothing working on Sunday. Evans, playing through a hamstring injury, had just one catch for 2 yards — a mostly meaningless touchdown at the end of the game.

At one point in the second half, Brady sailed a throw five feet over running back Ronald Jones’s head.

“Wow,” FOX’s Troy Aikman said on the broadcast. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Tom miss a guy like that.”

The only thing Brady had working were the deep jump balls that drew pass interference calls. The Bucs benefited from four PI calls for 101 yards.

Brady put the loss on himself and the uncharacteristic turnovers.

“I made just some bad, terrible turnovers, and it’s hard to win turning the ball over like that,” Brady said. “There’s no excuses. We wanted to play better, we just didn’t get it done.”

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @BenVolin