Saints prepare for Tom Brady and surging Bucs

METAIRIE, La. (WAFB) - There are two main questions surrounding the upcoming NFC Divisional matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Are the New Orleans Saints simply the better football team and will beat the Tampa Bay Bucs for the third time this season? Is Tom Brady, the one guy you oftentimes do not want to see in the playoffs, saving his best for last when it comes to the Saints and Bucs this Sunday evening in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome?

”I think that happens in this league occasionally and look, you’re typically playing hard-fought division games in this league,” said Saints head coach Sean Payton. “Certainly, we understand how good they’re playing right now, looking at the film and the way they’ve played in the last month, month-and-a-half. When the playoffs come and you’re playing a division opponent like this, it’s a whole new season. It’s entirely different.”

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The 43-year-old Brady has appeared in nine Super Bowls, winning six of them. And this past weekend, he passed for 380 yards and two touchdowns in Tampa’s NFC Wild Card win over Washington.

A man who played 13 seasons with Brady, winning three Super Bowls with the man and appearing in two more, is LSU great and current Tigers running backs coach Kevin Faulk. He said Brady has been carefully preparing for a long time to extend these golden years of his career as long as possible.

The winner will advance to the NFC Championship game to battle the winner of the Rams-Packers game.

The Saints will host the Bucs on Sunday at 5:40 p.m. The game can be seen on FOX.

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