If Tom Brady's kryptonite exists, it's probably the New Orleans Saints.
For some reason, Brady has had enormous difficulty beating the Saints and scoring points against them since he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of the 2020 NFL season.
Brady entered Sunday's Week 2 game in New Orleans with a 1-4 record against the Saints as a Buccaneers player. That lone victory was an important one, though -- a 2020 NFC Divisional Round playoff game.
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Tampa Bay's offensive struggles versus New Orleans continued Sunday. The Bucs didn't score until late in the third quarter when kicker Ryan Succop connected on a 47-yard field goal to tie the score at three. The Bucs didn't find the end zone until the fourth quarter when Brady found wide receiver Breshad Perriman on a 28-yard touchdown pass.
In fairness to Brady, he entered this game without wide receivers Chris Godwin and Julio Jones due to injury, and then Tampa Bay lost its No. 1 wideout Mike Evans in the fourth quarter (more on that below).
It still was an ugly performance from the Buccaneers offense, but they did accomplish their objective by earning a 20-10 win and taking sole possession of first place in the NFC South at 2-0.
NFL
Here's a look at Brady's stats and highlights from Sunday's game in New Orleans.
Stats
Brady completed 18 of 34 pass attempts for 190 yards with one touchdown and zero interceptions. He was sacked once.
The 45-year-old quarterback, through two games, has completed 36 of 61 attempts for 402 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. It's been a bit of a slow start for Brady after he led the league in both passing yards and passing touchdowns last season.
Highlights
Brady's frustration was evident in the second half when he smashed one of the tablets on the sideline.
One of the most exciting moments in this game occurred early in the fourth quarter when a brawl broke out between these teams.
Saints cornerback Marcus Lattimore was not penalized for pass interference while defending Bucs wideout Scotty Miller along the sideline. Brady was upset and started yelling at one of the officials. Lattimore and Brady then started talking trash to each other and it escalated from there as Mike Evans eventually came in and knocked Lattimore to the ground. Lattimore and Evans were both ejected.
The Bucs finally found the end zone when Brady launched a 28-yard pass to Breshad Perriman for a touchdown to put Tampa Bay up 10-3.
Buccaneers defensive back Mike Edwards sealed his team's win with a pick-6 in the fourth quarter.