METAIRIE, La. (AP) -At this rate, Drew Brees could throw for 72 touchdowns this season, a seemingly preposterous total that would obliterate the record 50 TD tosses Tom Brady threw in 2007.
The New Orleans Saints quarterback would rather steer clear of such talk, turning his focus to team goals.
“How about 16 wins?” Brees said Monday.
That would be another long-shot, though not impossible, as Brady and the New England Patriots proved two seasons ago.
Certainly, the Saints have won their first two games impressively, scoring 93 points in the process. Their 45-27 season-opening win at home against the rebuilding Detroit Lions turned out to be but a prelude to an even more lopsided 48-22 road victory at Philadelphia.
After throwing for 358 yards against Detroit and 311 against the Eagles, Brees is on pace to throw for 5,352 yards this season, which would easily eclipse Dan Marino’s 1984 record of 5,084 yards.
Brees could have a tough time sustaining his early pace, but he’s already claimed a couple NFL marks this season.
He set a new record for yards passing by a quarterback in his first 50 games with a team. After his 50th game with New Orleans on Sunday, Brees had 14,579 yards passing as a Saint. The old NFL record belonged to Kurt Warner, who had 13,864 yards passing in his first 50 games with St. Louis.
Brees’ nine touchdown passes so far tied the mark for TD tosses in the first two games of a season. Charley Johnson set record with the St. Louis Cardinals back in 1965.
“I’m having fun, but it’s only two games,” Brees said. “It only gets tougher. The more you win, the more success you have, the more you have to battle. … You kind of have to make sure you stay humble and stay hungry.”
Head coach Sean Payton also stressed the importance of soberly assessing the mistakes the Saints have made in the past couple weeks.
“There are a lot of things, watching the tape, that really concern you and I think our players will see it,” Payton said.
From Sunday’s game alone, Payton harped on DeSean Jackson’s 71-yard touchdown catch, Brees’ interception on a tipped pass, several blocking breakdowns by the offensive line and a 63-yard kickoff return by the Eagles’ Ellis Hobbs.
ings that it’s important coming off that game to make the corrections.”
At the same time, Payton’s prowess as an offensive strategist only seems to be growing. Now beginning his fourth season as a head coach, he’s already had league-leading offenses twice, in 2006 and 2008. The down year was 2007, when the Saints ranked fourth.
Payton has been pleased with the versatility and balance his offense has shown so far. With the help of some bruising runs by the resurgent Mike Bell, the Saints rushed 157 yards against Detroit and 133 yards at Philadelphia.
Brees has connected with a range of receivers. After Jeremy Shockey had two touchdowns in Week 1, Colston had a pair in Week 2. Even fullback Heath Evans had touchdown catches in each game.
“We just have the ability to spread it around to a lot of different guys and you never know who’s game it’s going to be,” Brees said. “Last week it was Shockey scoring two touchdowns. This week in Philly it was Marques and next week it will probably be somebody else.”
Payton said he also likes the fact that the defense under new coordinator Gregg Williams has produced six turnovers in two games, creating even more scoring chances for his high-powered offense. The Saints are plus-three in turnovers so far, with six interceptions – three by safety Darren Sharper, two by linebacker Scott Shanle – and a fumble recovery during kickoff coverage.
The Saints haven’t been to the playoffs since 2006, which was Payton’s and Brees’ first season in New Orleans with a rebuilding team that made a surprising run to the NFC Championship game. That team opened 3-0. This is the most promising start the Saints have had since.
“It’s different than ’06 though, because in ’06 we were just trying to find our identity there for a while,” Brees recalled. “As I watched this team come together this offseason, you just got the feeling that we got something here. We’ve got a window of opportunity here, so let’s take advantage of it.”
NOTES: Payton said injuries to Lance Moore (hamstring) and Mike (sprained right knee) appear to be minor. In Bell’s case, Payton said, “It’s a lot less severe than maybe we anticipated. I don’t know what that does for his status this week.”
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