Tom Brady Has Nightmare First Half On National TV Vs. Drew Brees’ Saints

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) — Tom Brady was the NFC Offensive Player of the Month in October. He opened November by looking sharp as a tack in a narrow win over the Giants.

But then … Sunday night happened. And all of that positive momentum halted — suddenly and dramatically.

Brady and the Bucs hosted Drew Brees and the Saints on national TV on Sunday evening. The home team was looking for some revenge for New Orleans’ win in the Superdome back in Week 1. Instead, the Bucs had to experience an absolute nightmare of a first half against the Saints.

Offensively, Brady engineered four consecutive three-and-outs to start the game. That streak only ended when … a Brady pass was tipped at the line (by two different players) and intercepted by a defensive tackle.

Defensively, the Bucs couldn’t stop anything, as New Orleans opened up a 28-0 lead. It could have been even worse if not for Jared Cook fumbling and turning the ball over at the 1-yard line and dropping a pass that would have set up another first down in the red zone.

In the middle of the second quarter, after each team had five possessions, Brees was 15-for-18 for 154 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Brady was 4-for-12 for 27 yards with no touchdowns and the pick.

It was … ugly.

Brady finally awoke somewhat on the Bucs’ sixth drive, coming out and going 5-for-5 for 37 yards and getting Tampa to the Saints’ 38-yard line. That included a third-and-3 connection to Antonio Brown for six yards to move the chains.

But Chris Godwin dropped Brady’s pass on third down, and Brady’s deep bomb to Rob Gronkowski on fourth-and-6 was overthrown. The turnover on downs gave the ball back to the Saints, who drove 44 yards to tack on a field goal.

Brady, looking at an ugly first-half stat line (9-for-19, 64 yards, INT) and a 31-0 deficit, was flummoxed.

Tom Brady flummoxed (GIF from NFL.com/GamePass)

Looking to mount something worthwhile before halftime, Brady came out and slung darts to Antonio Brown and Mike Evans, quickly eating up 32 yards.

But then … a pick.

A miscommunication with Brown up the right sideline led to Brady throwing the football directly to Saints safety Marcus Williams, with no Bucs receivers in sight.

Tally it all up, and Brady entered halftime like this: 11-for-22, 96 yards, 0 TDs, 2 INTs, 24.1 passer rating. It was the first time a Brady-led offense had been shut out in the first half since that fateful Monday night loss in Kansas City in Week 4 of the 2014 season. (As we know now, he and the Patriots rebounded rather well from that ugly showing.)

It may not end up as the very worst game of his career, but it’s certainly as bad as it gets.

The second half opened up on a more promising note, when Shaquil Barrett forced a fumble from Brees. Mike Edwards recovered the loose ball and returned it to the 21-yard line. A 12-yard Brady-Evans connection followed by Gronkowski drawing a pass interference penalty in the end zone set up the Bucs with a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.

But Brady threw incomplete on a fade to Evans on first down, Ronald Jones was stuffed at the line on second down, and Rob Gronkowski dropped a touchdown on third down. On fourth-and-goal, Brady threw another fade to Evans, who was tightly covered by Marcus Lattimore. The pass fell incomplete. The score remained 31-0.

Impossibly … things only got worse. Somehow.

When the Bucs took over after forcing a punt late in the third quarter, they got the ball to midfield, before Brady was sacked on three straight snaps. (The first was negated due to a defensive holding penalty.) Brady then completed a 16-yard pass to Mike Evans on third-and-23, before lobbing off a ball that was just begging to get picked off on fourth down.

Malcolm Jenkins obliged, making a miserable night even worse for Brady, who at that point was 18-for-33 for 155 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions.

With the national TV audience tuned in, with the great all-time passing TD record expected to bounce back and forth between the two QBs all night, this … this was not what Brady and Co. had in mind when they showed up to work on Sunday.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.