In the entire history of the NFL, only Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints has passed for over 5,000 yards in one season. Not Peyton Manning, not Bret Favre, not even Dan Marino ever topped 5,000 yards. Brees did it in 2011 with 5,476 and he looks poised to break the 5K mark once again. Going into week 17, Drew has 4,781 yards passing which leads the NFL. He is lacking a mere 219 yards to break the 5,000mark again this year. Given past performances, it is possible that Brees will pass that mark before the first half is over. Don’t laugh, he has done it before.
Now, remember that this has not exactly been a stellar year for the Saints. They lost their first 4 games in row and need a victory against Carolina just to finish the season at the .500 mark….. so, the numbers that Brees put up for 2012 are even more remarkable still. Lest we forget, Drew Brees passed for at least one touchdown in 54 consecutive NFL games from 2009-2012. Remarkable!
Peyton Manning has exceeded 4,000 passing yards for 12 years in a row and 4,500 for 6 straight years form 2004-2010, but 5,000 still eludes him. With the way Peyton is playing this year, he may well make a run at it next season. With one regular season game remaining against Kansas City, Manning stands with 4,355 for the season. Brett Favre holds the longevity record for passing having thrown for over 3,000 yards for an astounding 18 years in a row.
Even with these exceptional numbers and records in 2012, Drew Brees did not make the Pro Bowl roster this year….and that is probably as it should be. The Saints were not the team they should have been this past year and part of the blame has to fall on Drew. I mean, he threw 5 interceptions in one game! There were times during the season when it was obvious that he was not up to his usual high standards and it showed up on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
However, it now appears that Sean Payton and the Saints have come to a deal as expected and things are definitely looking up for the Brees and the Saints in 2013!
