The New Orleans Saints put on a dominant defensive performance on Sunday night, shutting out Tom Brady and the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 9-0 win.
It was just the third time Brady has been shut out in his career, and the first time a Brady-quarterbacked team has been shut out since Week 15 of the 2006 season, according to the NFL's internal research department. In 2006, Brady was still just 29 years old and no current NFL defensive players were in the league at the time. He is now 44 years old. The 255-game streak without being shut out preserves the record held by ... former Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who in 2006 was playing in his first season with the Saints.
The 2006 shutout came against the Miami Dolphins, who defeated Brady's New England Patriots 21-0. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins was former Bill Belichick disciple Nick Saban, who of course would go on to coach Alabama and win multiple national championships while sending a whole bunch of players to the NFL.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Tampa was the second-largest Super Bowl-era favorite to be shut out by the opposing team, and the first double-digit favorite to be shut out since 1994. It was also the first time a team leading the NFL in scoring coming into the game was shut out in December or January, according to NBC.
The Saints shut down the Buccaneers thanks to a dominant performance from their defensive front, which controlled the matchup with the Buccaneers' excellent offensive line all night long. Even before the Bucs lost Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Leonard Fournette to injury, the Saints were not allowing Tampa to get anything going at all. Acting head coach Dennis Allen, who serves as the team's defensive coordinator, has done an excellent job against Brady in all five matchups between these two teams since Brady arrived in Tampa, even if the Buccaneers managed to win one of them.