Saints' Drew Brees Talks 'Inevitable' Playoff Matchup vs. Tom Brady, Buccaneers

The New Orleans Saints defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice this season, but quarterback Drew Brees knows both teams are "different" as they head into their postseason matchup.

"They're a great football team. They're playing very, very well right now," he said during an interview with Tracy Wolfson of CBS Sports after leading the Saints to a 21-9 win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday. "We know what type of game that's going to be. They're a divisional opponent, so we played them twice this year. But I'd say they're a different team right now, and we're a different team right now."

Brees later added that a playoff showdown against Brady was "inevitable."

"The minute that he signed with the Bucs and came to the division, you felt like that was going to be a team to contend with, that was going to be a team that would have playoff aspirations and beyond, just like us," Brees told reporters. "So, I guess it was inevitable."

Both teams had to win their wild-card matchups to set up a third showdown.

Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to a 31-23 win over the Washington Football Team on Saturday by throwing for 381 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Brees was also impressive Sunday against the Bears and threw for 265 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

While they won't be on the field at the same time, the quarterback matchup will be the biggest storyline for the NFC Divisional Round game.

After all, they are first and second on the all-time list in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns as two of the best signal-callers in NFL history. They are both surefire future Hall of Famers, although Brady has six Super Bowl titles to Brees' one.

Yet Brees has enjoyed bragging rights this year.

His Saints won the NFC South and defeated Tampa Bay by a combined 46 points during the two regular-season games. The second one was a 38-3 blowout that saw the Saints' formidable defense intercept Brady three times and sack him three times.

Tampa Bay has won five in a row, though, underscoring Brees' suggestion it is a different team than the last time they met.

Stretching that winning streak to six in New Orleans would be quite an accomplishment, even for the all-time great Brady.