New Orleans. Drew Brees He will be able to celebrate his 42nd birthday as he prepares for a playoff duel against a team led by a quarterback older than him.
Brees completed 28 of 39 passes for 265 yards, connecting with Michael Thomas and Latavius Murray on touchdown plays, and the New Orleans Saints they beat on Sunday 9-21 at Bears de Chicago in a wild card clash of the National Conference.
The victory leads the Saints (13-4) and Brees, who will turn 42 on Friday, into a divisional-round showdown of the postseason next weekend at the Superdome with Tampa Bay and quarterback Tom Brady, 43. years.
Brees-Brady next round.
Who wins Round 3? ???? pic.twitter.com/LraOdlLMwF
– ESPN (@espn) January 11, 2021
“The moment he signed with the Bucs and got into the division, you knew it would be a contending team, it would be a team with postseason aspirations and more, just like us,” Brees said of a first-time game with Brady. in the postseason. “So I think it was inevitable.”
Alvin Kamara rushed for 99 yards and added a three-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter after missing the final game of the regular season and not training this week due to COVID-19 protocols.
“I was feeling fine, no real symptoms,” Kamara commented on her absence. “I had a week off. It’s like I have no choice but to rest and recover ”.
The Bears (8-9) delivered a fierce defensive performance that kept the Saints from taking a lead of more than a touchdown until Murray’s touchdown on a six-yard drive put the score at 14-3 near the end of the third quarter.
That touchdown was the result of a costly error by the Bears: Safety Eddie Jackson, in formation for an apparent blitz, committed offside on fourth and three yards to advance from the Bears’ 13-yard line.
Two plays later, Brees made his way to the right wing when he spotted Murray calling for the ball. Brees sent it to him with a short pass over linebacker Khalil Mack, and Murray headed for the end zone.
Brees’ first touchdown pass came in the first quarter on an 11-yard throw to Thomas, who returned after a three-game absence to heal from an ankle injury. Thomas, the 2019 Offensive Player of the Year, missed nine games this season and had not caught a touchdown pass since Dec. 22, 2019, in Tennessee.
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