Let me paint the picture of the play for those of you who didn't watch history unfold before your very eyes. New Orleans, on their own 38 yard line, 1st & 10. Needing only 35 yards to beat the NFL’s record for Most Passing Yards all-time by a quarterback, all eyes were on Drew Brees and the Saints offence. Standing shotgun formation, Alvin Kamara on his right and four receivers spread across the line, all ready to make history. The ball’s snapped into the calm, reliable hands of the Saints quarterback, and the routes take shape. It’s obvious Brees is throwing the ball.
As Kamara runs into the flat, and the Redskins show their zone defence, Drew Brees did what Drew Brees does best. A patented pump fake to Kamara, drawing the eyes of the defence in and their mindset to cover the check down pass. With a quick turn of his body to face the real target, Brees unloads a beautiful, perfect spiral downfield. As the ball soars threw the air, fans, players, coaches, owners and everyone in between holding their breath, waiting in anticipation; The pigskin lands right into the arms of a waiting Tre’Quan Smith, down the sideline at about the Washington 38. You could almost hear everyone’s mind turning, calculating if Brees got the necessary yards. Before any could do the “quick maths”, and with no help coverage overtop of his route, Smith had nothing but daylight between him and the end zone. A fitting 62 yard touchdown, and Drew Brees is off to Canton..
Even in the moments after putting himself amongst the greats in football history, Brees was more focused on everyone else in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Insuring that they knew just how important they were to his success. Embracing his teammates who were on the field to share the moment, then the crowd, and once he made his way to the sideline, he found his family waiting to congratulate their father on his success.
Thanks to the Monday night microphone that Brees was wearing we were able to hear him throughout the entire experience. He spoke words of encouragement to his children, and you could feel the emotion coming from the superstar quarterback. Last but not least, he and head coach Sean Payton finally got their chance to celebrate in a moment I'm sure they'll both hold high for the rest of their lives. Huge smiles from cheek to cheek on both men’s faces, and as they separated from one another, Brees told his coach “Now let’s go win a football game.”
That’s just what they did, absolutely manhandling the Redskins by a score of 43-19. Brees was smart and accurate with the ball the entire game (what else is new), and was sure to welcome Mark Ingram back from suspension by giving him two touchdowns on the night. Alex Smith and the Redskins offence looked like they were reading different plays of the playbook at times. Meanwhile the defence looked even more lost, giving up multiple open throws for huge yards, the record setting touchdown included.
Besides watching Brees join elite company, this game was a definite one sided showing, but that’s all anyone wanted to watch, unless you're a Redskins fan of course. Sitting at 499 touchdowns in his career, with one more touchdown to go to join the 500 club with greats Peyton Manning, Brett Farve (both of whom he just beat to set the NFL Passing Yards record) and Tom Brady, all eyes will once again be on Drew Brees for week 7(Saints have a BYE week 6), as he's all but certain to do so against the Ravens in Baltimore