3 Takeaways from Buccaneers' Week 8 Loss

A 16-point deficit late in the third quarter isn't too much to overcome when Tom Brady is at quarterback. So it wasn't surprising to see the future Hall of Famer guide the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back into Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints and eventually into the lead during the fourth quarter.

However, the Bucs couldn't hold on. Instead, they took their second loss of the 2021 season, falling 36-27 to the Saints at Caesars Superdome. Tampa Bay now heads into its bye at 6-2, after winning six of its first seven games of the year.

Brady gave the Buccaneers a 27-26 lead with a 50-yard touchdown pass to Cyril Grayson with five minutes, 44 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. But the Saints reclaimed the lead on a 23-yard field goal by Brian Johnson with 1:41 remaining, then sealed the game 17 seconds later on P.J. Williams' 40-yard interception return touchdown.

Here are three takeaways from Tampa Bay's Week 8 loss.

Brady's Highs End Up Overshadowed by His Lows

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Brady continues to put up huge touchdown numbers in his age-44 season. He threw another four TDs, marking the fifth time in eight weeks that he's had at least that many touchdown passes. He also leads the NFL in both passing yards (2,650) and passing touchdowns (25).

However, it was the veteran's mistakes that proved costly on Sunday. He committed three turnovers, throwing a pair of interceptions and losing a fumble. Those miscues led to 16 points for the Saints, which turned those turnovers into two touchdowns and a field goal.

Brady isn't one to blame others, as he noted after the game that he needs to "play better," while admitting he "threw it to the wrong guy" on Williams' pick-six that put the game out of reach for the Bucs in the closing minutes.

"It's tough to win that way, when you turn the ball over like we did," he told reporters. "I've got to not throw interceptions. That's the key."

Brady doesn't throw interceptions many times or make those kinds of mistakes, though, so it's likely he'll fix these errors and get back on track soon enough.

Penalties Becoming Too Much of an Issue

Butch Dill/Associated Press

The Buccaneers' turnovers weren't their only costly mistakes on Sunday. In a recurring issue, they also committed too many penalties, as they received 11 flags that resulted in 99 yards for the Saints.

This isn't the first time this year that Tampa Bay has been penalized too many times. It has an NFL-high 580 penalty yards through the first eight weeks of the season.

And after this latest performance, head coach Bruce Arians didn't mince words about the miscues he saw.

"That was an embarrassing display of football," he said, per Scott Smith of the team's official site. "With all the things that we talked about coming down here it was going to take to win, and to play like that starts with me. Obviously, we weren't ready to play. Penalties, turnovers—you can't beat anybody that way."

Quite a few of the penalties were costly. Tampa Bay had a second-quarter interception negated on a roughing-the-passer call. And New Orleans' fourth-quarter drive that resulted in Johnson's go-ahead field goal would have stalled much earlier if not for a defensive holding penalty.

Without the penalties, this contest could have had a different result. And if the Buccaneers don't clean up this area of their game, it will continue to hurt them throughout the season.

Bucs Still in Better Position Than at 2020 Bye

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Considering how the Buccaneers' 2020 season ended, it can be easy to forget how it began. When Tampa Bay entered its bye in Week 13, it was 7-5 and had lost three of four games. After that, though, the team never lost again on its way to the Super Bowl LV title.

Tampa Bay's bye is coming earlier in 2021, and it won't be in action during Week 9. Still, the Buccaneers aren't struggling nearly as much as they were when their week off arrived last year. And it's possible they'll again come out of their week off and go on a roll once again.

When the Bucs return, they'll have a pair of winnable games against the Washington Football Team (2-6) and the New York Giants (2-5). Those matchups should help a refreshed Tampa Bay team address some of its recent mistakes and get back on track before playing more difficult games later on.

So, while the Buccaneers couldn't enter their bye on a positive note, they're still leading the NFC South and are among the best teams in the NFL this season. And it seems likely they haven't gotten anywhere close to their peak yet, just like at this point in 2020.