Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady could only sit in mostly silence at his locker after a third-consecutive loss for the first time in two decades.
Brady was “facing forward”, and “his head was in his hands” with “full pads on for several minutes” as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times described. The seven-time Super Bowl champion only talked a little with backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert, Stroud added. Brady didn’t want to talk about it when he addressed the media long after the game ended.
“We just didn’t play well enough to win,” Brady told the media on Thursday, October 27 after a 27-22 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. “Give them credit. They played good and certainly better than we did.”
Brady and the Bucs cleared a season-long first quarter touchdown hurdle for a 10-3 lead, the squad’s best first quarter of the season. He started hot with 7-10 passing more than 100 yards.
Then, the Bucs offense shifted back to neutral amid five-consecutive punts at one point. Other than a deep shot to star wide receiver Mike Evans in the fourth quarter, Brady went cold until late in the final quarter.
Brady Can’t Rally Bucs
Brady led the Bucs to the red zone three times in the fourth quarter but only came away with one touchdown and two field goals.
His deep shot to wide receiver Scott Miller, which drew pass interference, set up the second of two field goals. The first came after Brady’s deep shot to Evans.
The offense stalled again after the penalty on the pass to Miller. Brady also threw a touchdown to tight end Cade Otten on that drive, but it got called back due to a holding penalty. The execution faltered again with a completion to Julio Jones coming short of a touchdown and then a false start penalty on fourth down, which led to the field goal call.
Brady later hit Jones on a deep shot, a contested replay call that went in the Bucs’ favor. The Bucs moved the ball on that drive, and Brady capped it off with a touchdown pass to Jones.
Brady finished with 26-44 passing for 325 yards and a touchdown as he fell to 3-5 as a starter for the first time in his career. Amid Brady’s latest loss, he also became the most-sacked quarterback in NFL history when Baltimore’s Justin Houston sacked him in the second quarter. Brady accrued that feat mainly through the longevity of playing 23 years in the league.
The Bucs led 10-3 much of the way, but the Ravens came back to tie the game 10-10 in the second half and take the lead on another touchdown. Tampa Bay’s defense couldn’t handle quarterback Lamar Jackson’s running, and the Ravens stuck the dagger late in the fourth quarter for a 24-13 lead.
Bucs Defense Sinks Without Shaq Barrett
Once Bucs linebacker Shaquil Barrett left the game with an Achillies injury, confirmed by head coach Todd Bowles, things went south for the defense.
The Bucs couldn’t contain the Ravens rushing attack in the second half with 24 points allowed. Barrett previously gave the Ravens offense trouble all night, including a sack where he sported a Ray Lewis-like celebration. Barrett posted two tackles for loss and a sack.
The Bucs defense also failed to take the ball away for a fourth consecutive game, an ongoing issue for the unit. Getting late-game stops also eluded the Bucs again as the Ravens scored at will late in the second half. Failing to make fourth quarter stops plagued the Bucs at Pittsburgh and Carolina the previous two weeks, and the same happened in the Bucs’ last win against Atlanta.
