2011 has been a very good year for the quarterback position. In addition to a great crop of rookies, there are a number of passing records set to fall, including one of the longest standing records in the league, with Drew Brees gunning to shatter the 27-year-old record he barely missed three years ago, and that he missed in such a dramatic and disappointing fashion.
Over the last 20 years, the NFL has turned into a much more passing-oriented league, so its not surprising that most of the single season passing records have been set in the last ten years – passing TDs was set by Tom Brady in 2007 with 50. Passing efficiency was set by Peyton Manning in2004 with 121.1. (Incidentally, Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers is on pace to shatter Manning’s record, and get close to Brady’s – his passing efficiency is 127.7 and he’s on pace for 48 TDs.)
But Dan Marino’s single season passing yardage record has stood since 1984. It’s like the Bob Beamon’s long jump of passing records, when Beamon shattered the world record by almost 2 feet in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, although Beamon’s famous record lasted for “only” 23 years.
Brees is currently passing for 335 yards per game, putting him on pace for a total of 5,360. Tom Brady is nipping at his heels with 330 yards per game, on pace for 5,280. Both would shatter the 27-year-old record, but Brees has a bit more of an incentive. He is the only other quarterback to reach the 5,000 yard mark, when he passed for 5,069 yards in 2008.
“It would mean a lot,” Brees said of the chance to break the record. “We kind of went through this whole process back in 2008 when we were 15 yards short.”
“We’re so focused on winning games and playing within ourselves, executing our offense and that kind of thing, we’re not putting the extra added pressure on ourselves like maybe we did in ’08.”
In the last game of 2008, the Saints were 8-7 and out of the playoff hunt. Going into the last game, they didn’t have anything to play for except price, and so their sole focus was on helping Brees break the record. Carolina’s defense was the only thing standing in their way.
“Carolina was playing for the (two) seed,” Brees recalls. “If they won the game, they were going to be the two seed. If they lose the game, they would be the five seed, so this is a huge game for them.”
“They come into our place and they’re beating us 30-10 going into the fourth quarter. We score three consecutive touchdowns on two-minute drives and take the lead, 31-30, with three minutes left. At that moment, we were 15-yards away. They get the ball and drive all the way down the field and kick a field goal with one second left to beat us.”
But the game wasn’t over at that point. There was still one second on the clock, and the Panthers kicked the ball out of bounds giving New Orleans one more play, with 1 second remaining on the clock on its own 40-yard line.
Since the game was meaningless for the Saints’ season, rather than call the expected Hail Mary pass and call for Brees to heave it 60 yards toward the endzone, head coach Sean Payton called for a safer play to try to help Brees break the record.
“Sean says instead of throwing a Hail Mary, try to throw it to one of these guys as they’re running toward the end zone, but just tell them to kind of stop about 20 yards down the field,” Brees said. “So we kind of draw something up in the sand. Literally, we draw it up in the dirt and go out there and try to execute it.”
“I think there was just a little confusion on the way. Well, we missed the throw (to Saints receiver Lance Moore). Somebody told me after the game that that throw would have put you over the mark. Obviously it wasn’t meant to be.”
Brees has a more balanced view of the record this season, having won a Super Bowl since that year and playing on a contender again this season, as opposed to the 2008 team that missed the playoffs.
“If it happens, then that would be great because that’s something the entire team could share,” Brees said. “We have bigger aspirations of winning and losing, wanting to go to the playoffs and make a significant run and go back and win another championship. It’s really about winning. If the records come along with that, it’s really great.”
This season, Brees looks on pace to shatter that record and dispel the memory of coming so close in 2008. But he will need to hold off Tom Brady as well, who is only 62 yards behind Brees. Perhaps the only thing more heartbreaking than coming up 15 yards short of the record would be to break it only to be surpassed by Brady.
Incidentally, if they both stay on this pace, the drama will come down to the last game of the season. Both teams play on Sunday, January 1, and they both have home games at 1:00pm, so they will be playing simultaneously. Should be fun to watch.
