The Washington Football Team put up a valiant effort behind spot-starter quarterback Taylor Heinicke, but they couldn’t seal the deal in a close playoffs loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady’s squad escaped with a 31-23 win, and now they have to wait and see whether they’ll face the New Orleans Saints for the third time this season.
If the Saints take care of their business on Sunday with the Chicago Bears, they’ll advance to the Divisional Round for a home game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome against the same Buccaneers team they swept in the regular season. The narrative that “it’s tough to beat a team three times” is popular, but it’s just that: a fabricated narrative. As it turns out, it’s easier to beat a team three times than to win against them after losing twice.
There have been 21 meetings between teams that played twice in the regular season and again in the playoffs since the AFL-NFL merger, and the team that won both regular season matchups is 14-7 in the postseason (per an inspired Redittor who dug deep into NFL archives). The Saints themselves beat the Carolina Panthers three times just a few years ago. So don’t sweat it.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Saints have to defeat the Bears before they can focus on their next possible opponent. They know better than most that you can’t underestimate any matchup in the playoffs.
