New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) calls out to the sideline in the first half of an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in New Orleans, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Rogelio Solis)
After he and the Saints thrashed the Green Packers 44-23 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday night, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees’ numbers at home in primetime grew even more insane than they already were.
Brees has completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 4,580 yards, 46 touchdowns and only four interceptions the last 14 times the Saints have hosted a primetime game (counting the playoffs), all of which New Orleans has won. For context, Brees’ 71.2 percent completion rate for the 2011 season was the best all-time. The 327.1 yards per game he has during the streak would equate to 5,234 yards in a season, which would be the fourth-best all-time and the second-most in the career of Brees, who is the only NFL player to ever throw for 5,000+ yards in more than one campaign (he’s done it four times).
The aforementioned stats for Brees include his 27-of-32 passing for 311 yards and one touchdown throw each to rookie receiver Brandin Cooks, All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham and second-year tight end Josh Hill in Sunday night’s victory over the Packers (5-3), who had won four straight games before their trip to New Orleans.
“The Green Bay Packers are playing about as well as any team in the league right now,” Brees said. “We knew the challenge that was ahead of us.”
The Saints (3-4) were coming off a defeat at Detroit the previous week in which they squandered a 23-10 lead they seized late in the fourth quarter and lost 24-23. Brees contributed to the meltdown by throwing his seventh interception of the season to set up the Lions’ go-ahead score.
With Green Bay up next on the schedule, many did not believe a primetime home game winning streak that had reached 13 would survive for the Saints, not after they’d lost dropped of their first six outings this year. It wasn’t only that streak which seemed in jeopardy — the Saints had also won 19 consecutive home games with Saints coach Sean Payton on the sidelines before kicking off against the Packers.
But the Saints got 14 points off two interceptions thrown by Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (28-of-39 for 418 yards, a touchdown and a rushing TD). They got another seven points off a Green Bay turnover on downs to help blow what had been a 16-16 halftime stalemate wide open, and they tied a season-high with three sacks of Rodgers (limited by a strained hamstring).
Saints running back Mark Ingram rushed for both a career-high 172 yards and a touchdown. And Brees handled much of the rest, being careful he did not throw an interception in the course of a game for only the second time this season.
“My grandfather always said, ‘There’s three types of people, three types of teams — those that make it happen, those that watch it happen and those who wake up one day and say, ‘What the heck happened?’” Brees remarked. “I feel like all this year we’ve been waking up and saying, ‘What the heck happened?’ And it’s about time we made it happen.”
Payton on Sunday night spoke for pretty much anyone who has seen Brees play each of the last 14 times there’s been a primetime game in New Orleans when he said in a news conference, “(Drew) was magnificent. He was spot on.”
The MVP of the Saints’ victory in Super Bowl XLIV, Brees on Monday was fourth in the NFL this season in passing yards (2,227). His 14 touchdowns have him in a four-way tie for ninth, and his passer rating of 97.4 is 11th.