Drew Brees ushered in a new era of Saints football with a sad performance

If that was, in fact, Drew Brees’ last game, he’ll be trying to erase it from his memory as quickly as possible. Not only did the Saints lose 30-20 to the Buccaneers, but Brees put together one of the worst games of his career in the process.

Brees just looked like a quarterback that had nothing left. He completed 19 of his 34 pass attempts for 134 yards, one touchdowns, and three interceptions. His passes lacked velocity and he was simply unable to orchestrate a down-field passing game to keep the Saints in the game during the fourth quarter.

After so many years of leading elite offenses and torching defenses through the air, Brees has become an anchor for the Saints offense. The Saints went from being one of the scariest offenses in the league to a team that struggles to score; much of that must be blamed on Brees’ diminished abilities.

All of his current limitations were on display as the Saints’ postseason hopes came to an end. He couldn’t push the ball downfield:

(aDOT stands for average depth of target.)

And he wasn’t nearly as precise as we’re accustomed to him being: his completion percentage above expectation, according to NextGen Stats, was -10.8.

Even if Brees winds up deciding to return to the NFL for the 2021 season, the Saints need to find better quarterback play. Brees can give the Saints a moment or two where he looks like the quarterback that was throwing for 5,000 yards, but those moments are few and far between now.

Meanwhile, his tape is littered with flailing throws like this …

It’s the end of an era. Fans of the other teams in the NFC South are rejoicing, but the league is losing one of the greatest quarterbacks in its long history. If this is it for Brees, it’s a pretty sad, anticlimactic way for his career to end — especially at the hands of Tom Brady, who still looks like he can keep his career going.

The Saints have some soul, and quarterback, searching to do this offseason. We’re about to enter a new era of New Orleans football.