The final match of the Divisional Round in the NFL playoffs comes from the Superdome in New Orleans as the New Orleans Saints host their NFC South rivals Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the right to travel to face the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship match next week.
These two teams know all about each other being from the same division and have already played each other twice this season. The Saints won on both occasions so the Buccaneers will be looking to avoid the sweep in the biggest game of the three.
New Orleans Saints
It has been a while since we’ve seen the New Orleans Saints play really well in the postseason but you get the feeling they will need to do that here. Even though they came through pretty comfortably last week it is hard to argue that they were fluent or looked particularly good. If the Chicago Bears receivers had caught 2-3 crucial passes that match could so easily have gone the other way and on paper the Buccaneers look on a different level to the Bears.
Offensively the Saints seem to get stuck in the playoffs and although their defence was able to handle what the Bears threw at them, whether they can do that here remains to be seen. You get the impression that New Orleans will need to perform offensively, but they have done that twice in what were pretty one-sided victories against the Bucs in the regular season. They don’t really count for a whole lot now however.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were expected to breeze past the challenge of the Washington Football Team last week and in fairness that is what happened but even they offered up one or two concerns or signs of hope. They are trying to get to their own party with the Super Bowl being on their home ground this year and that sort of motivation can be a big thing. They have added incentive here given that it would see them knocking out their NFC South rivals who have haunted them for so long.
The Buccaneers look like they are warming to the task at present and in Tom Brady they certainly have someone who is a past master at negotiating the playoffs. The Bucs defence has got stronger the longer the season has gone on and that is never a bad thing if you apply the ‘defences win championships’ tag to this match. Brady has plenty of weapons he can find should this turn into a shootout so the visitors will fancy their chances here.
Betting
I like their chances as well. New Orleans just don’t convince me at this stage of a season and if I’m taking this one on the matchups within the contest then Tampa Bay Buccaneers hold the edge in the quarterback department and the passing game, probably more than an edge defensively and although they trail a bit in the run game that would become irrelevant in the Bucs get into the lead and force New Orleans into the big plays.
The doubts over the Buccaneers would come in how easily the Saints beat them in the regular season but their first meeting here was the opening week of the season and visibly Brady was still connecting with the players around him. The loss at home to the Saints is a bigger concern but that should only have fuelled the fire for Brady and co to deliver here. I think Tampa Bay have looked more convincing recently and at odds against I’ll take them to book a trip to Lambeau Field.
Tips
WON – Back Tampa Bay Buccaneers to beat New Orleans Saints for a 3/10 stake at 2.25 with William Hill
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