Tom Brady got his revenge against the Saints, thanks to the Buccaneers’ defense that had theirs

The most compelling story will be Tom Brady’s win over a Drew Brees who probably played his last game in the NFL and a New Orleans Saints defense that punished him twice in the regular season, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense did, also to lift a load off his shoulders in the Divisional Round.

The Buccaneers’ defense forced four Saints turnovers, three of which were interceptions by the Brees, which resulted in 21 points to beat New Orleans 30-20 in the divisional round game.

In the two regular-season games against the Saints, the Tampa Bay defense caused only two turnovers, both in the Week 9 game, but their attack failed to translate those steals into points.

At the same time, that Tampa Bay defense could not contain the Saints’ attack in those games, when Tom Brady and company fell victim to forced New Orleans turnovers.

In the Buccaneers’ two losses to the Saints, the New Orleans defense caused four turnovers, three of them interceptions to Brady, and the attack led by Brees and company turned those thefts into 28 points, 14 in each game.

The story was contrasting in the Playoffs match between these divisional rivals.

Bucs’ defense threw Brees 53 percent of the New Orleans pitch’s projected play, however the highest number in the quarterback’s playoff career with the Saints, which had an impact on his performance in slightly more relaxed situations.

Brees completed just nine of the 16 passes for 42 meters, with two interceptions, when the buccaneers pressed him only with defensive linemen.

The 21 points the Buccaneers have scored after taking possession of the Saints ball are the third-highest total in the last 10 postseason, behind only the Cleveland Browns’ 24 points against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the last Wild Card round 22 points for the Carolina Panthers in the 2015 NFC Championship Game.

For his part, the Saints defense stopped doing what his counterpart did with great success in the divisional round and gave them solid results in both wins over Tampa Bay in the regular season: pressure from Brady.

In the Tampa Bay playoff loss, the Saints defense pressed Brady for just 21% of his projected passing games (7 of 34), a noticeable drop from the 36% they posted in both games. regular season against the passing veteran.

Brady’s best performance in the deep pass, in the third third of the regular season, could have had an effect on the Saints’ decision not to send him packages of goods.

Moving to the divisional round, the Buccaneers were 1-4 when Brady was pressured by four or more players to at least 20% of his games projected in the air.

ESPN statistics and information contributed to this report.