Tom Brady is off to his worst start since 2002
Tom Brady only had a losing record after eight weeks in the 2002 campaign. In that year the New England Patriots did not advance to the playoffs.
When Tom Brady came out of retirement after forty days to play in 2022 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he definitely didn’t plan to end Week 7 with a losing record of 3-4.
This is somewhat unusual in Brady's career as only once did he have a losing record during the first eight weeks in the 22 seasons prior to this one. That was in 2002, his first season as a starter and the only one in which he didn't make the postseason after being healthy all year.
The 2002 Patriots started the season with a 3-4 record, with wins over the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs in the first three weeks and losses to the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers and, after the bye week, the Denver Broncos.
New England finished the 2002 season with a positive record of 9-7, but did not reach the postseason because the Indianapolis Colts, with 10-6, and the Cleveland Browns, with 9-7, took the positions though the wild card.
The rest of the calendar
Despite the loss to the Carolina Panthers, the Buccaneers remain leaders of the NFC South and the rest of the schedule looks manageable, if Brady is properly protected and his receivers don’t drop passes when they don’t have any defenders around them.
Before the bye week, the Bucs will have three games at home and take on the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks at Raymond James Stadium. Although these three teams are 11-9, Tampa Bay could beat them.
The end of the season looks complicated as they will travel to Cleveland, play the Saints in Week 13 MNF, fly to San Francisco, then host the Bengals at home in Week 15. The last three matches will be against the Cardinals, at Christmas, against the Panthers at New Year’s and against the Falcons in the final week of the regular season.