Drew Brees looked great while Tom Brady looked like a guy with other things on his mind as the two star quarterbacks took the field for the first quarter of today’s Patriots-Saints game.
Brees led the Saints on three straight scoring drives to start the game: The Saints marched 61 yards in nine plays and kicked a field goal on their first drive, and then Brees threw touchdown passes on the Saints’ second and third drives. The Saints went for two and were unsuccessful after both touchdowns, so they have a 15-0 lead.
Brady, on the other hand, struggled. He went just 2-for-5 for 13 yards, and the Patriots went three-and-out on all three of their offensive possessions with Brady running the first-string offense.
Brady didn’t play well in last week’s preseason opener, either. It’s fair to wonder whether Brady is struggling because he has missed practice time while dealing with Deflategate, although the preseason provides such a small sample size that it’s tough to draw any conclusions about how Brady is playing.
What we can say is that based on one quarter of football, Brady has work to do, while Brees looks like he’s in midseason form.