Although they came into Saturday’s game with injuries, inexperience, and uncertainty, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers managed to claim victory over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional round of the playoffs, beating the Saints by a score of 30-20.

After spending the first 20 seasons of his career with the New England Patriots, 6-time Super Bowl Champion quarterback Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in one of the biggest moves of the NFL offseason. With Brady at quarterback in 2020, Tampa Bay improved their record from 7-9 to 11-5, becoming a playoff contender almost immediately and earning the 5th seed in the postseason. 

This newfound success, however, came with huge expectations for Tampa Bay, which they had to back up in their first playoff game with Brady under center. Their Wild-Card matchup with the Football Team gave them a great opportunity to start rolling through the postseason. The Buccaneers sought to dominate the game from the opening whistle, with their offense piling up over 500 yards from scrimmage and scoring 31 points en route to a Buccaneers victory. Their defense contributed too, intercepting Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke and holding the Football Team’s offense to 23 points to secure the Buccaneers’ big win. 

Going into the matchup with the Saints, the Buccaneers had their work cut out for them. New Orleans had been a dominant team who they have already played against and lost to two times this season. Led by long-time quarterback Drew Brees and the prolific running back Alvin Kamara, the Saints claimed a 12-4 record and won their division, the NFC South. The final showdown between these two teams was an extremely close affair, as the game was tied 13-13 at the half, but the Bucs managed to come away with the victory thanks to 4 turnovers from the Saints. Tom Brady also added two 2 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown to help the Bucs beat New Orleans and claim a spot in the NFC Championship. Next week, tune in at 3:05 on Sunday, January 24th, to watch Tom Brady and the Buccaneers take on All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at home in the NFC Championship with a Super Bowl berth on the line.