By Omar Abdallah
Monday Night, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, was a night to remember for Drew Brees – not merely because he passed Peyton Manning to become the all-time leader in passing touchdowns – but he also had the single most accurate game in NFL history in terms of completion percentage.
Brees, who finished 29 of 30 for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Saints’ 34-7 drubbing of the Indianapolis Colts, ended the night with 96.7 completion percentage, the highest completion percentage recorded in NFL history in a game with at least 20 passing attempts.
At one point, the 40-year old completed 22 consecutive passes, falling 3 short of the NFL record of 25 straight completions, set by Phillip Rivers in 2018 against the Arizona Cardinals.
Breaking the all-time passing touchdown record midway through the third quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Josh Hill, off of play-action and throwing his fourth touchdown to Taysom Hill on a 28-yard pass, Brees 541 career passing touchdowns have further chances to grow prior to playoff time, with the two games remaining this regular season against the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers.
It is important to note that Tom Brady, himself playing high-quality quarterback into his 40s, enters weeks 16’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills with 538 passing touchdowns, so given the relative proximity of their two respective totals as well as the fact that both Brees and Brady expect to play beyond 2019, which says that their could be frequent switching off on this record until one retires.
Beyond Brees though, the future Hall of Famer might not be the only Saints player to break records this season.
Wide receiver Micheal Thomas, who has been arguably the main cog in New Orleans’ receiving core, is on his way to breaking the single-season receptions mark, set by Marvin Harrison in 2006 when he recorded 143 catches.
Thomas finished Monday’s game with 12 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown, now sitting at 133 receptions for 1,552 yards and 8 touchdowns on the season with two games remaining.
Currently averaging 9.5 receptions per game, the former Ohio State Buckeye sits on pace to finish the season with a record-setting 152 receptions.
Brees and the Saints are currently positioned as the 3rd seed in the NFC playoff picture with an 11-3 record, having already clinched the NFC South and are still in play to secure a first round bye in what is going to be a must watch NFC playoff bracket.
