Is the third time a charm?

After suffering two previous losses to the NFC South champion New Orleans Saints during the 2020 regular season the Tampa Bay Buccaneers certainly hope so.

Tampa Bay’s victory at Washington against the NFC East champions and New Orleans’ home victory over Chicago, a wild card team, sets up a rematch of NFC South rivals – the Bucs and Saints – in the NFC divisional playoffs on Sunday, January 17 at 6:40 p.m. at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The game will be televised on Fox.

New Orleans swept Tampa Bay this season, winning 34-23 on opening day at home and then 38-3 at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday Night Football in November. The Saints are the only team to score more than 30 points against the Bucs defense this year, and New Orleans is only one of four teams that has held Tampa Bay’s offense under 30 points in 2020.

The game will feature two of the league’s all-time great quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Drew Brees, who rank first and second in NFL history in terms of passing yards and passing touchdowns. Brees passed for 382 yards and six touchdowns in the two games against Tampa Bay this season, while Brady passed for 448 yards with two touchdowns and a combined five interceptions.

Saints head coach Sean Payton is 4-0 against Bucs head coach Bruce Arians over the past two seasons. New Orleans is 3-2 over the last five games, including Sunday’s 21-9 win over Chicago in the first round of the NFC playoffs, while Tampa Bay is 5-0 since its bye week, including a 31-23 win at Washington on Saturday in the NFC wild card game.