New Orleans Saints' playoff hopes on the line Sunday against the Tampa Bay Bucs in the Dome

Saints' QB Drew Brees

Denver Broncos' record setting Peyton Manning

The 10-5 New Orleans Saints facing a key challenge Sunday are in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome hosting the 4-11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 3:25 kick off. On the line is a playoff berth with a Saints' victory, while on the other hand a loss would knock the Black & Gold out of the playoff picture. However, a Saints' win coupled with a possible Atlanta Falcons upset victory over the NFC South leading 11-4 Carolina Panthers would give New Orleans the No. 2 seed along with a bye and home field advantage in the upcoming playoffs. Needless to say there is an awful lot at stake riding on Sunday's contest with the Bucs in the Dome.  The Saints earned a 16-14 victory over Tampa Bay back on September 15 on the road .During Wednesday's practice quarterback Drew Brees was limited in practice due to what was listed as a bruised knew. The Saints received good news yesterday with Brees appearing to practice uninhibited by his knee. Saints' head coach Sean Payton said, "He's fine. He had a right knee bruise. There's nothing more to it than that. And yet we thought it was best (if) we limited the amount of snaps he's getting. We just felt like we had a day to do that," Payton added. Brees' name appeared on the Saints' injury list for the first time all season Wednesday with that issue concerning his knee. Brees is poised to lead his Saints in a must win situation concerning the playoffs. Brees is second in the league behind Denver's Peyton Manning passing for 4,781 yards completing 68.2 percent of his passes with a 101.8 quarterback efficiency rating. Brees has tossed 35 TD passes with 12 interceptions. The Saints' O-line must do a better job protecting him than in recent weeks as he has been sacked 36 times on the season. Manning has led his Broncos to the AFC West crown setting a new NFL touchdown pass record of 51, breaking Tom Brady's mark of 50 set back in 2007. Manning has thrown for 5,211 yards being picked off just 10 times with a QB rating of 113.0 second to Philadelphia's Nick Folse at 118.7. Manning is within reach of breaking Brees' NFL single season yardage record of 5,476 yards as he needs just 265 yards in Sunday's road finale against the Oakland Raiders to pass the mark set by Brees in 2011.