Indianapolis Colts (6-8)
at
New Orleans Saints (11-3)
🏈🏈🏈🏈
New Orleans 34, Indianapolis 7
Last night was so perfect for Drew Brees, that it is difficult to imagine how it might have been any better, frankly.
The Saints had just lost a huge game to the 49ers, one that put them out of position to control their own destiny in terms of a playoff bye.
But New Orleans bounced back in a huge way, an Drew Brees had the kind of night that will live on not only in his memory, but in the memory of almost all fans for a very long time to come.
Brees was able to complete 29 of 30 passes - a new NFL record 96.7 completion percentage! - for 307 yards and four touchdowns. He finished this night with 22 straight completions, which is three shy of the NFL record of 25 straight completions.
A truly banner kind of day, for a guy who has enjoyed a lot of special days like that.
How did Brees respond to all of this?
Well, actually, he seemed pretty cool, almost relaxed about it all. Here, he spoke about it before the fact, and his focus was clearly on how he could help his team, and not on his own personal pursuit of a record or the history books:
"I think, obviously, before the season, you know you are a certain distance away. But then once the season starts, you just focus on winning games and doing what I need to do as a quarterback of this team to put us in the best position to succeed and to win," Brees said this week. "And with that, I guess the statistics come, and maybe they add up. And then all of a sudden, you're close enough to be within striking distance of some of those things. But I'm really not thinking about it."
Obviously, this news also drew the attention from athletes in the league, and some of the response became highly publicized news itself. That includes the only guy playing in the league right now who could feasibly surpass Brees in the near future, Tom Brady:
Tom Brady ✔ @TomBrady
Congrats drew!! Couldn’t be more deserving. Passing Peyton in anything is an incredible achievement and your records will be tough to beat! But it’s worth trying 😉
185K 10:14 PM - Dec 16, 2019
What a night for Brees!
As for the Saints, they improve to 11-3, tied with three other teams (the Packers, the Seahawks, and the 49ers) for the best record in the NFC. They have to try and win out, and then hope for a little help from the Vikings next weekend to beat the Packers, and the Seahawks on the final weekend to beat San Francisco, in order to secure home field advantage for themselves.
The Big Easy would be a formidable pace for a road team to have to win at, especially if Brees continues to play at quite this high of a level!
Meanwhile, this loss was yet another in a string that has seen the Colts go from relatively elite status in the AFC, to officially out of the playoff picture now at 6-8. The Colts were never really in this game from early on, once it was clear that Brees was really having a great night. The defense looked overwhelmed, and they were unable to keep the game even remotely close. Head coach Frank Reich, who himself is a former NFL quarterback who has the greatest comeback in NFL history to his credit back in January of 1993, said that most likely, no other team would have been able to stop Brees on a night like this.
He has a point on that score.
What is perhaps most amazing is that Brees is playing at such a high level while at a relatively advanced age for a professional athlete, as he is 40, and turns 41 next month!
I got the quote used above from this ESPN article (see link):
Drew Brees sets records for most career TD passes, single-game completion percentage by Mike Triplett ESPN Staff Writer, December 16, 2019:
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