NEW ORLEANS: Tom Brady and Drew Brees will accomplish something next week that they have never achieved in their NFL career histories: facing off in a playoff game.
The runner-up, the New Orleans Saints, will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ’fifth-place finishers in the final of next weekend’s divisional round clashes on Sunday afternoon.
“I guess it was inevitable,” said Brees, who said he knew the Buccaneers would be a significant rival once Brady decided to migrate to the NFC South this past offseason. “Listen, the moment you signed with the Bucs and got into the division, you felt like it would be a team to fight with. It was a team that had playoff aspirations and beyond, just like us.”
Brees, who will turn 42 on Friday and is expected to contemplate retirement after this season, said: “I don’t take it for granted. I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”
The Saints, who became the first team to devastate the NFC South Division in the regular season, got the better of Brady and the Bucs in their first two clashes: a 34-23 victory in New Orleans week 1 and an impressive, 38-3 thrashing in Tampa in week 9.
Brees and Brady, 43, became the first pair of quarterbacks to start against each other at age 40 in an NFL game in those first two meetings. Now, they will be the first to do so in a playoff game.
Their rivalry has spanned four decades, dating back to when Brady’s Michigan Wolverines stepped on Brees ’Purdue boiler makers in 1999.
In fact, Brees has won five of his seven career tackles in the NFL, and Brees ranks No. 1 in league history as he passes the field. Still, Brady ranks No. 1 in the career touchdown steps and has the final mic drop when it comes to Super Bowl rings (six to one).
Brady and the Buccaneers have been in a recent streak, winning five in a row, including Saturday night’s 31-23 wildcard victory over the Washington football team.
But the Brees and Saints offense hopes to be on the verge of reaching its peak in the playoffs, after recovering wide receivers Michael Thomas and Deonte Harris from the injured reserve and Alvin Kamara from the reserve list / COVID-19 is the time for Sunday’s 21-9 wild card victory over the Chicago Bears visitors.
Thomas took five passes for 73 yards and his first touchdown of the season after limiting himself to just seven games of the regular season with an annoying ankle injury. Brees and Thomas had played a total of just 10 quarters together in the regular season, thanks to Brees missing four games of his own from weeks 11 to 14 with a punctured lung and 11 broken ribs.
“She was OK [to get Thomas back]. It was great to get it in the final zone as well. Hopefully, we broke the seal and that resulted in a lot more, ”said Brees, who threw 265 yards and two TDs on Sunday, but acknowledged the offense has room for improvement after scoring just seven points in the first 40 minutes.
“Listen, we have some work to do,” Brees said. “I think this is the first time we have brought everyone back together. Hopefully, we will succeed [wideout] Tre’Quan Smith returns this week as well. There’s so much timing and pace going into the passing game and so many little nuances of things like that. “
Kamara ran 99 yards and a TD although he was not allowed to practice with the team all week. But he said he felt he “really didn’t miss a beat” after experiencing barely any symptoms of COVID-19 and following the Saints’ practices via live video with microphone coaches.
Kamara said he and Brees texted and talked throughout the week about the nuances of the game plan.
“I have a first-round goodbye. I have a week of goodbyes,” joked Kamara, who was unable to play week 17 after testing positive for coronavirus late last week. “So it obviously only helps to have that time of inactivity. You have no choice but to sit back and recover and, in a way, get your body back. So today I felt good.
“With me, it really didn’t affect me too much. It just left the taste and smell. No real side effects, no real symptoms. I felt good today. My wind hasn’t been seen. really affected. Thank God for health It was just something I had to deal with. “