Back in the offseason when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that they had signed Tom Brady to a 2-year deal, most people were looking forward to seeing him face off in the NFC South vs. Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.
Brady's debut on his new team didn't go exactly as planned. He was picked off twice and the Saints beat them 34-23 at home. Then, they met at Florida for one of the most lopsided losses on his career, as the Saints beat them 38-3 and he was intercepted three times.
Nonetheless, we all know that the playoffs are a completely different thing to the regular season and, even though Brees has plenty of postseason experience, Brady clearly has the upper hand in that regard.
Tom Brady Says Bucs Aren't The Same Team The Saints Beat Twice This Season
That's why Tom Brady opened up about their Sunday showdown in an interview with his team's website, claiming that they're just not the same team the Saints easily beat twice this season:
“I think we’ve certainly come a long way,” Brady said. “I think we’re just going to keep improving. The more we’re together, the more we’re talking about football, the more we’re trying to be on the same page, the better it is.”
Brady acknowledged that the Saints are going to be a tough rival, especially on their turf. Still, he has plenty of confidence in his team's ability to pull off the upset and make it to the Conference Championship game:
“We’ve got a big test this weekend [against] one of the great teams in the NFL, consistently been one of the great teams for a long time. We’re going to have to go play a great football game,” the quarterback concluded.
At the end of the day, beating the same team three times in a season isn't as easy as it sounds, regardless of how much the Saints dominated them. Who'll win? We don't know, but we can be sure that it will be a memorable game.
