The Buccaneers signed quarterback Tom Brady this offseason for moments like this: to go head-to-head with a New Orleans Saints team that had a relentless grip on NFC South to bring Tampa Bay back into the running. -season for the first time in 13 years and become the first team in NFL history to host a Super Bowl in his hometown.
Bucs are one step away from completing that trilogy.
In the second stop of a playoff odyssey that began as a wild card on the road – a first in Brady’s 21-year career – Tampa Bay defeated New Orleans 30-20 on Sunday night. The Saints swept the Bucs in the regular season, beating them by 46 points in two games.
Next: Lambeau Field, against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game. It will be Brady’s 14th and Bucs’ fourth conference game, having recently defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 on their way to winning Super Bowl XXXVII after the 2002 season.
Against the Saints, Brady completed 18 of 33 passes on 199 meters, two touchdowns through the air, one on the ground and without interceptions. He is now 3-5 against Saints quarterback Drew Brees, although the defense and ground play have told the story. The saints frequently lined up with deep fuses, focusing on preventing big games on the field.
Bucs runners Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones combined in the 169-meter scrimmage. The Saints’ receiver, Michael Thomas, was kept without a catch, and the Bucs received three touching dishes.
Bucs’ corner, Sean Murphy-Bunting, picked Brees on a pass to Thomas in the second quarter, turning him 36 yards to the 3-yard line in New Orleans. Then Bucs receiver Mike Evans scored on a 3-yard touchdown – his first catch of the season against the Saints Marshon Lattimore corner.
Then in the third quarter, Bucs rookie Antoine Winfield Jr. took the ball out of Saints’ hands, Jared Cook, with Bucin defender Devin White, who picked it up and returned it at 18 meters. Fournette then caught a 6-meter touchdown from Brady on a sloping path.
In the fourth quarter, White caught Brees in a pass to Alvin Kamara of New Orleans, keeping Brady for a 1-yard score. Later, Mike Edwards, Bucs safety, took a pass from Brees that was offered by Bucs defender Lavonte David.
While Sunday marked Brady’s 14th victory in a divisional playoff game, it was only his second divisional victory on the road in his first season in the NFC.
Packers coach Matt LaFleur said how tired his players are of having fans in their stadium on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams, in a game in which MVP favorite Aaron Rodgers gave a performance for ages against defense no. 1 of the league.
Wide receiver Davante Adams even proclaimed, “No one can stop us.”
Bucs, however, managed in the 6th week to amaze the Packers 38-10 at home, fired Rodgers four times, intercepted him twice and kept the Packers on a seasonal touchdown.
The same Packers team scored in each of the first five possessions on Saturday, in the eighth game of Rodgers’ playoffs, in which he was responsible for at least three touchdowns, putting Brett Favre in third place in NFL history.
The Bucs got a history of their own Sunday, becoming the ninth team in NFL history and the first of the New York Giants in 2007 to beat an opponent in the playoffs after being swept by them in the regular season.
Brady has a 9-4 career in league league games, but is 3-3 in those road games. Brady is also 4-2 all-time against the Packers and 1-1 at Lambeau, while Rodgers has lost three conference championships.