Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take on the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Heading into the matchup, Brady acknowledged the Cowboys' strengths while expressing confidence in his Buccaneers' teammates.

Tampa Bay, after winning the AFC South with an 8-9 record, enters the postseason as the NFC's No. 4 seed. The Cowboys, who held a 12-5 record, enter as the No. 5 seed after winning the NFC's top Wild Card spot. But no matter the seeding, no matter the records, Brady said he is focusing on nothing else but how the team executes during their first-round playoff matchup, via The Athletic's Jon Machota.

“Yeah, they've got a great team. I've played against them quite a bit over the years and I have a lot of respect for the organization, their history, a lot of great players,” Brady said. “But all of its about three hours on Sunday – Monday night – and everything's going to come down to what we do in those three hours.”

“Nothing in the past, nothing about the color jerseys we're wearing,” Brady continued. “It's who's playing, what we're doing, how we're executing, how we're executing under pressure. That's what it's going to come down to.”

While Tom Brady isn't looking to the past, the Buccaneers might want to. Tampa Bay defeated the Cowboys in Week 1 this season, 19-3. Brady completed 18-of-27 passes for 212 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Both teams have evolved over the course of the year, but the Bucs should at least have a decent gameplan.

Brady is actually 7-0 against the Cowboys in his career. But those accolades came in the past. Brady is just looking for the Buccaneers to go out and prove they're much better than their 8-9 record indicates.