Tom Brady got his rematch against the Saints, thanks to the Buccaneers’ defense

The most compelling story is Tom Brady’s victory over a Drew Brees who may have played his last game in the NFL and a New Orleans Saints defense that punished him twice in the regular season, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense he also failed to lift a load off his shoulders in the division round.

The Buccaneers’ defense forced the Saints four turnovers, three of which were interceptions to Brees, which translated into 21 points to beat New Orleans 30-20 in the Divisional Round game.

In the two regular season games against the Saints, the Tampa Bay defense made only two turnovers, both fumbles in the week 9 game, but the offense failed to convert those steals into points.

At the same time, that defense of Tampa Bay couldn’t stop the Saints’ attack in those games when Tom Brady and his company fell victim to forced conversion by New Orleans.

In the Buccaneers’ two defeats against the Saints, the defense of New Orleans caused four turnovers, three of which were interceptions to Brady, and the attack led by Brees and his company turned that steal into 28 points, 14 in each game.

The story contrasted in the Playoffs game between these division rivals.

The Bucs defense blew Brees on 53 percent of the plays designed by the New Orleans pass, the highest number in the quarterback’s playoff career with the Saints, and that affected his performance in slightly more relaxed situations.

Brees completed only nine of the 16 passes for 42 yards with two interceptions when the Buccaneers only pressured him with defensive linemen.

The 21 points the Buccaneers scored after taking possession of the ball from the Saints are the third-highest total in the past 10 postseason periods, behind only the Cleveland Browns’ 24 points against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final Wild Card Round and the 22 Carolina Panthers points in the 2015 NFC Championship Game.

The Saints’ defense, in turn, stopped what their counterpart did with great success in the Division Round, giving them solid results in both regular season victories at Tampa Bay: Brady under pressure.

In their Playoff loss to Tampa Bay, the Saints’ defense put pressure on Brady on just 21 percent of his designed passes (7 of 34), a notable drop from the 36 percent they put in the two games. regular season against the experienced passer.

Brady’s best performance in deep passes since the third third of the regular season may have influenced the Saints’ decision not to send him cargo packages.

Heading into the Division Round game, the Buccaneers were 1-4 when Brady was pressured by four or more players on at least 20 percent of his designed games through the air.

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.