Drew Brees, Saints Dominate Buccaneers as Tom Brady Suffers Worst Loss of Career

First place in the NFC South belongs to the New Orleans Saints.

New Orleans defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38-3 in Sunday's divisional showdown at Raymond James Stadium and improved to 6-2 in the process with a fifth straight win. The clash between future Hall of Fame quarterbacks was the headliner, and Drew Brees earned bragging rights over Tom Brady with some help from Alvin Kamara and his defense.

The Buccaneers fell to 6-3 and saw their own three-game winning streak come to an end with a terrible performance on both sides of the ball.

The 35-point margin marked the worst of Brady's career, according to Jeff Duncan of The Athletic. It topped the 31-0 shutout Brady, then with the New England Patriots, was involved in back in 2003.

Notable Player Stats

• Drew Brees, QB, NO: 26-of-32 for 222 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT
• Alvin Kamara, RB, NO: 9 carries for 40 yards, 1 TD; 5 catches for 9 yards
• Emmanuel Sanders, WR, NO: 4 catches for 38 yards, 1 TD
• Tom Brady, QB, TB: 22-of-38 for 209 yards, 0 TD, 3 INTs
• Mike Evans, WR, TB: 4 catches for 64 yards

Drew Brees, Saints Offense End Game by Halftime

It would be nearly impossible to script a more high-profile quarterback battle than Sunday's.

Entering play, Brees was No. 1 in NFL history in completions and passing yards, while Brady was No. 2. What's more, Brady was one touchdown pass ahead of Brees for the record in that category.

They will both be enshrined in Canton, Ohio, one day, but this is the first time they have been in the same division in their illustrious careers. Brees earned the initial head-to-head victory in Week 1 and wasted no time picking up where he left off with touchdown passes to a wide-open Tre'Quan Smith and Adam Trautman in the first quarter.

That was a sign of things to come, as he put on an absolute clinic and picked apart the Tampa Bay secondary seemingly every time he dropped back to throw. Emmanuel Sanders made a diving touchdown catch, 11 different Saints tallied a reception by halftime and even Taysom Hill got in on the action with powerful runs, one of which set up a Kamara score.

It would have been even worse for Tampa Bay, but Jared Cook lost a fumble right in front of the goal line on what looked to be another touchdown drive in the opening quarter.

The result was a 31-0 halftime lead for Brees and the Saints in a display of absolute dominance rarely seen between two Super Bowl contenders.

Enough damage was done by intermission that even Brees losing a fumble on New Orleans' first possession of the second half didn't do anything but hurt his individual statistics because the game was already essentially over.

It is difficult to envision anyone in the NFC beating the Saints if they play like they did in the first half of this one.

Bucs Explosive Offense Comes Up Short

Tampa Bay's offense looks like a fantasy football dream on paper with Brady throwing to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski and Antonio Brown—who made his season debut Sunday—with Ronald Jones II and Leonard Fournette in the backfield.

So much for that.

That group started with four straight punts before Brady sandwiched an incompletion to Gronkowski on a fourth-down attempt between interceptions to David Onyemata and Marcus Williams.

It was an abysmal display from Tampa Bay, but the Saints defense deserves plenty of credit with Malcolm Jenkins making plays all over the field and the rest of the secondary sticking with Tampa Bay's long list of explosive receivers.

Things didn't get better in the second half when 1st-and-goal at the 1-yard line turned into zero points when Brady threw an incompletion, Demario Davis stuffed Jones, Gronkowski dropped a touchdown and Marshon Lattimore broke up a fourth-down pass to Evans.

That sequence, along with a Jenkins interception, ended even Tampa Bay's long-shot hopes for a miracle.

What's Next?

Both teams face NFC foes in Week 10 when the Saints host the San Francisco 49ers and the Buccaneers are at the Carolina Panthers.