New Orleans Saints stymie Tom Brady and Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers fell victim to a stingy visiting defense, with Brett Maher’s three field goals nudging the Saints to victory at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

Buccaneers quarterback Brady had gone 255 consecutive starts without being shut out, including the playoffs — the second longest streak by a quarterback in NFL history.

The 44-year-old lost three of his favorite targets, running back Leonard Fournette, wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans at different points of the game that contributed to the seven-time Super Bowl champion’s struggles.

A frustrated Tom Brady watches from the sidelines during the second quarter of the game against the New Orleans Saints.
Brady is sacked by Marcus Davenport.

“We just didn’t execute, obviously. It was just a tough night. Didn’t do much of anything right,” Brady said.

“We’ve got to get a lot better, got to get back to work. There’s a lot of football left and we’ll see if we can go get a win next week,” he added.

Since Brady’s arrival in Tampa, the Bucs are 0-4 in regular season matchups against the Saints.

Brady and the Bucs will now look to bounce back against a Carolina Panthers team reeling from a fourth successive defeat, following a 31-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Meanwhile, victory renewed the Saints’ playoff hopes at 7-7 ahead of their game against the Miami Dolphins next Monday night.

source: cnn.com