It's been a season of firsts for Tom Brady. And not in a good way.
Entering Week 8, the 45-year-old quarterback hadn't lost three games in a row since his 2002 season with the New England Patriots. And he had never been two games under .500 in 22 seasons as a full-time NFL starter.
That all changed Thursday night, when Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 27-22 to the Baltimore Ravens to suffer their third straight defeat and fall to 3-5 on the season.
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Here's some historical context behind Brady's struggles with the Bucs' this season:
Statistically, Brady put up respectable numbers Thursday night, completing 26 of 44 passes for 325 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also made several impressive throws, including a pair of deep balls to Mike Evans and a missile to Chris Godwin over the middle.
Brady was also sacked three times, however, giving him the dubious distinction of the most-sacked quarterback in NFL history.
Tampa Bay's offense has struggled mightily in 2022 since losing three of its starting offensive linemen this offseason. The Bucs' run game has been particularly abysmal; after just 44 rushing yards total Thursday night, they rank dead last in the NFL with 61.9 rushing yards per game.
Brady hasn't been able to pick up the slack in the passing attack, with just nine touchdown passes in eight games. He's on pace for 19 touchdown passes, which would be his lowest total ever in a full season as an NFL starter. (Brady threw 18 TD passes after taking over for Drew Bledsoe in Week 2 of the 2001 season.)
All of that failure appears to have taken its toll on Brady, who appeared very dejected after Thursday's loss.
"I think we struggled in pretty much everything," Brady said after the game. "We struggled in the red zone, struggled on third down, struggled in the run game, two-point plays, short yardage, when backed up, at the start of the first quarter, start of the third quarter. Not very good offensive football."
Brady famously said in 2014 that "when I suck, I'll retire." While he's still playing better than many NFL quarterbacks, Tampa Bay's struggles have to weigh on him, and if the Bucs can't turn things around, it's very possible this season could be Brady's last.