Drew Brees And New Orleans Saints’ Playoff Struggles Reach Apex In Loss To Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The New Orleans Saints had this game. The final score — a 30-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — may not reflect it. But the Saints really had control of this game.

The Saints were up 20-13 over the Buccaneers late in the third quarter with an opportunity to extend their lead by two possessions. That’s when Drew Brees completed a pass to tight end Jared Cook for a first down in Tampa Bay territory.

With open field ahead of him, Cook wasn’t just thinking first down — he was thinking of a huge play that would put New Orleans immediately in prime scoring position.

Unfortunately, Cook forgot to protect the ball as Buccaneers defensive back Antoine Winfield forced a fumble that Tampa Bay would recover.

Meanwhile, the Saints would never recover.

What then ensued was a touchdown by the Buccaneers to tie the game before the Saints lost the game for themselves when Brees threw two interceptions on the next three drives to ensure a defeat.

Despite an underwhelming effort by Brees, Tom Brady wasn’t much better. In fact, for much of the game, his completion percentage lingered under 50 percent.

But the difference between Brees and Brady was that one kept committing turnovers while the other did not commit a single one.

Three of the Saints’ turnovers directly led to scores for the Buccaneers on the following possessions. The last turnover simply meant the end of the game — and the season — for New Orleans.

Brees admitted after the game that the turnovers — three of which were from him — led to the result of the game.

“A couple of them I probably shouldn’t have thrown, maybe forced it in there,” he said. “At the end of the day, that’s what this game down to, the turnovers. All of those gave them the ball deep in our territory.”

Despite their tremendous regular season success, the Saints lost a postseason home game for the third consecutive season.

And while Brees will go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time — this was reportedly his last game, although he refused to officially commit to retirement following the loss — it cannot be overlooked at how he and the Saints have underwhelmed in the playoffs over the past three or four years.

Despite finishing with at least a 12-4 record over the past three seasons, the Saints have not advanced to a single Super Bowl. In fact, they finished as the No. 1 seed during the 2018 season and as the No. 2 seed this past season.

Simply put, that lack of postseason success following stellar regular seasons in a three-year period is almost unheard of.

And as well liked and respected as Brees is — and rightfully so — let’s not excuse how his performances in the postseason have been a clear decline from his performances in the regular season.

Brees’ playoff stats in his last four playoff loses — only one of which game in a conference championship game — are as follows: 96-for-147 (65% completion rate), 885 passing yards, 6.0 yards per pass attempt, seven touchdowns, seven interceptions and a fumble lost for a 77.6 passer rating.

By comparison, Brees’ regular season stats over the past four seasons are as follows: 1,306-for-1,793 (72.8% completion rate), 14,247 passing yards, 7.9 yards per pass attempt, 106 touchdowns, 23 interceptions and a 110.3 passer rating.

That’s not even adding in the fact of the Saints’ regular season dominance over this same Buccaneers team during the regular season, defeating their division rivals by a combined score of 68-26.

In those two regular season games, Brees was flawless — literally.

He threw for six touchdowns and zero interceptions while accumulating an 81.3 percent completion rate and a 135.2 quarterback rating in New Orleans’ Week 9 38-3 demolition of Tampa Bay.

In the Saints’ divisional playoff loss to the Buccaneers, the 42-year-old quarterback went 19-of-34 for 134 passing yards, 3.9 yards per attempt, one touchdown, three interceptions and a 38.1 passer rating.

Brees has never registered a passer rating that low as a member of the Saints. The last time he registered a passer rating that low was as a member of the San Diego Chargers during the 2005 season.

The last time he posted a yards per attempt number lower than 3.9 was during a Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks during the 2013 season.

With a chance to control the game against an opponent the Saints — and Brees — dominated during the regular season, New Orleans should have had this in the bag.

And yet, when it mattered most, in what was likely his final game, Brees crumbled — multiple times — again.

Brees is the NFL’s career leader in passing yardage and completions. He’s No. 2 all-time in passing touchdowns and completion percentage. He brought the only Super Bowl title to a franchise previously known for its mediocrity.

His legacy and his greatness is not in question, nor should it ever be.

But just because Brees is an all-time great and a former Super Bowl champion, let’s not overlook his underwhelming play in the biggest of games over the final few seasons of his career.

It’s a major reason why the Saints are going home early — again.

And likely for the final time during the Brees era.