This Sunday at Lambeau Field, the Green Bay Packers will be down one of the most prolific passers in league history. Aaron Rodgers ranks ninth in NFL annals with 310 TD passes. That number is topped by only Peyton Manning (539), Brett Favre (508), Drew Brees (475), Tom Brady (469), Dan Marino (420), Fran Tarkenton (342), Eli Manning (329) and Philip Rivers (324). Of course, Favre, Marino and Tarkenton are already enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The other five players will all deserve consideration once their magnificent and productive careers have ended.
This weekend, Brees and the 3-2 New Orleans Saints visit Green Bay for the first time since 2012. And while we won’t get to see a showdown between a players that have combined for an astounding 785 scores through the air, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Dom Capers have far more important things to worry about.
No slowing down
After stumbling out of the gates in losses to the Minnesota Vikings and New England Patriots, Sean Payton’s club has certainly turned things around as of late. The Saints have won three straight games and find themselves tied for second place in the NFC South with the defending conference champion Atlanta Falcons. Yes, Brees comes of throwing his first two interceptions of the season and his team held on for a 52-38 win over the visiting Detroit Lions last Sunday.
Still, they are his only turnovers of the season. The 17-year pro is completing 68.7 of his passes for 1,321 yards and 10 scores compared to those two picks. Now he takes aim at a Green Bay Packers’ defense that is playing better than its 2016 predecessors but is certainly a unit with concerns.
History vs. the Packers
The numbers are simply mind-boggling.
Brees has faced the Green Bay Packers six times, once with the Chargers and the last five as a member of the Saints. He has hit on 168 of his 250 throws for 2,215 yards and 17 touchdowns with only two interceptions. He’s thrown for 300-plus yards and at least two scores in each of his six encounters with the Pack. And just so you have a little proper perspective in terms of Brees and facing Capers’ scheme, there have been three meetings between the quarterback and the coordinator since 2011.
Brees has thrown three touchdown passes in each contest and totaled 419 (2011), 446 (2012) and 311 yards (2014), respectively, in those meetings. It’s just one example of the kind of production McCarthy’s team will be facing Sunday afternoon.
