The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the first game they played in the Louisiana Superdome. If they can do the same on their first post-season game ever at that location, they will be in the 2020 NFC Championship Game.
After opening the 2020 playoff with a road victory over the Washington Football Team in the Wild Card round on Saturday night, the Buccaneers now head their ship to New Orleans, where they will face NFC South-rival Saints in the Divisional Round of the decisive games . That destination was determined on Sunday afternoon, when New Orleans defeated visitor Chicago Bears 21-9.
The two teams will play next Sunday, January 17th, at 6:40 pm ET on FOX.
Santos and Buccaneers, who finished first and second in the South with records of 12-4 and 11-5, respectively, will face each other for the third time this season. The Saints won both competitions, including a 34-23 decision at the Superdome in the first week. New Orleans also won at Raymond James Stadium in Week Nine by 38-3 on Sunday Night Football.
The Buccaneers’ first win in New Orleans doubled as the franchise’s first win at the end of the expansion team’s second season on December 11, 1977. Another win next weekend obviously wouldn’t be the franchise’s first post- season, but it would propel them to their first NFC championship game since 2002. The Buccaneers and Saints will meet in the playoffs for the first time.
The other NFC game in the Divisional Round will place the Los Angeles Rams in the Green Bay Packers. The Rams, a Wild Card team and sixth seed overall, defeated their own rivals in the division, the Seattle Seahawks, by 30-20 on Saturday afternoon. The Packers received the only first round of the conference as the best overall seed.
The Saints gave the Buccaneers two of their five losses this season, which proved to be the difference in the division’s ranking as New Orleans beat NFC South for the fourth consecutive year. These two competitions were the only ones that Tampa Bay lost by more than three points throughout the season. His other three losses – to Chicago, Rams and Kansas City – were decided by a total of three points.
The Buccaneers will have a 7-2 record at the Superdome next weekend, including victory in Washington. Santos is also 7-2 at home this season, including the victory over Bears.
Tampa Bay have won six of their eight games since losing in Week Nine to New Orleans, including all four of them away from home. During this period, the Buccaneers’ scored an average of 34.1 points per game. In the two losses to the Saints, the Bucs allowed six of the 21 sacks that Brady suffered throughout the season and also defeated the Bucs quarterback five times. Brady only released seven interceptions in Tampa Bay’s other 15 games, including the Wild Card win in Washington. New Orleans’ defense in fourth place was led by a violent run of passes that came in sixth in the league in sacks per pass.
The Divisional game in New Orleans is most notable for its duo of quarterbacks linked to the Hall of Fame, Brady and Drew Brees. Brady and Brees are in first and second place, respectively in NFL history for touchdown passes (581 for Brady, 571 for Brees). Brady’s post-season advantage is much greater, as he holds the lead of all time with 75 touchdown passes, while Brees is sixth with 34. And, of course, Brady is chasing his seventh Super Bowl title while Brees is trying to add a second.
The Saints won the regular season series against the Buccaneers, and with it the southern crown of the NFC. However, Tampa Bay now gets a third chance at its division rival, with much more at stake. An eighth away win in 2020 would put the Buccaneers one step closer to returning home to the Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium.