When Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March, Drew Brees had a feeling the two would be meeting for a third time in January.
With the Saints’ Wild Card win over the Bears on Sunday, the two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks will square off in a Divisional Round playoff matchup next Sunday – the first time they will meet in a playoff game.
“The minute [Brady] signed with the Bucs and came to the division, you felt like that was going to be a team to contend with [and] with playoff aspirations like ours,” Brees said, via NFL Network. “So, I guess it was inevitable.”
Brees and the Saints have gotten the best of Brady and the Bucs twice in the regular season – which included a 34-23 Week 1 win and a 38-3 Sunday Night Football thrashing in Week 9.
But the Bucs have won their last five games and Antonio Brown has now become acclimated in the offense since his debut in Week 9 – giving Brady another weapon.
Of course, the Saints now have Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas on the field and healthy at the same time, too, making them just as dangerous.
The spotlight will remain on Brees and Brady, though – two of the all-time greats, both in their forties (Brady 43; Brees turns 42 this week) who have gone back-and-forth with each other on some of the career leaders list.
Brady is atop the career passing touchdowns with 581 while Brees is second with 571, but Brees leads the passing yards category with 80,358 while Brady is second with 79,204.
But the career stats won’t matter on Sunday. It will be Brees vs. Brady for a third time this year, and probably the last time ever.
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