Drew Brees vs. Tom Brady.
These two guys have been racking up eye-popping stats for as long as I’ve been alive. Brees is first all-time in career passing yards and touchdowns, while Brady is second. Brees seems to break his own completion percentage records every year, while Brady enjoys a huge amount of postseason success.
They both have occupied opposite conferences almost their whole careers though, limiting their head-to-head matchups. But, in those matchups (all coming in the regular season), Brees has a 4-2 edge in the win-loss column, including this year’s Week 1 Saints-Bucs matchup. The two veterans also played against each other in college in 1999, with Brady’s Michigan Wolverines taking the victory over Brees’ Purdue Boilermakers.
So what does this all mean for Sunday night? Not a damn thing.
While Brady is all set to face the Saints Sunday night, Brees has been dealing with a shoulder issue that has kept him listed as a “limited participant” for this week’s practices on the Saints injury report. Brees and the Saints have dismissed it as simple “load management,” but it will be interesting to see if the veteran’s limited practice time will affect the Saints offensively. My guess? Nah. But one can dream, right?
Both teams have some incredible talent on both sides of the ball, with the Saints possibly getting their star receiver Michael Thomas back, and the Bucs possibly getting their own star receiver Chris Godwin back. The Bucs, however, are likely going to be without their best offensive lineman in guard Ali Marpet, who is dealing with a concussion. For the Bucs, we could have an Antonio Brown sighting, as his suspension is lifted and the former Steeler will be eligible to return.
Honestly, on paper these teams are even. The Saints have a really good defensive line, led by Cameron Jordan, but are possibly going to be missing defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, who suffered a mild MCL strain in their last game against the Bears. The Bucs have the best linebacker duo in the league, but have a young and inconsistent secondary. The Saints secondary is really about the same, as it seems to be really good on some nights and really bad on others.
It comes down to the two legends. Brady is on a roll this season, and seems to be settling in nicely with his plethora of targets, while Brees is letting Alvin Kamara—who is on pace to shatter several running back receiving records—do his thing. It is really a toss-up, but the Saints have been one of the best regular season teams in the league for quite some time. They will win Sunday, in a nail-biter, 34-31.
But hey, that’s OK Bucs fans. The Saints did beat the Bucs in both of their matchups in 2002, when the Bucs won their first and only Super Bowl. So maybe it’ll be a good thing.
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This article appears in Nov 5-11, 2020.