Tom Brady is in unfamiliar territory when it comes to his Hall of Fame NFL career. Brady isn't used to losing, yet for the first time in two decades the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback is experiencing what it's like to fail.
The Buccaneers have lost five of six games to fall to 3-5, the first time Brady has ever been on a team that's lost five of six games in the NFL. Brady is also two games under .500 in the regular season as a starting quarterback for the first time and is experiencing a three-game losing streak for the first time in two decades.
"I don't think anyone feels good," Brady said after the Buccaneers' 27-22 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. "We lost five of six, so not where we wanna be. We haven't earned it and we got to go earn it. You gotta fight hard and you gotta figure out how to win games."
Brady started 302 straight games without a three-game losing streak, the longest streak in NFL history. The previous record holder was 155 games by Joe Montana, as Brady nearly doubled the feat. The last time Brady lost three straight games was in October 2002, when Michael Jordan was in his last NBA season and Barry Bonds won his fifth National League MVP award -- demonstrating how long its been since the quarterback has gone through this amount of adversity.
The Buccaneers' problems aren't going away at 3-5. Tampa Bay is 27th in third-down conversion rate (second last season) and 29th in red zone touchdown rate (second last season). The Buccaneers are averaging 62 rushing yards per game, which is the fewest by any team through eight games since the 2019 Bengals (who finished 2-14).
Somehow, Tampa Bay is still in the NFC South race. Brady and the Buccaneers have no reason to give up on the year, even when the season appears at its darkest hour.
"If you think you can erase what happened over the last eight weeks," Brady said. "We gotta dig deep, see what we're about, come to work, and improve. We gotta give ourselves a better chance."
