NEW ORLEANS (AP) ― Quite a night for Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints ― a record and a rout.
Brees set the NFL record for yards passing in a season, breaking a mark that Dan Marino had held for 27 years, and the New Orleans Saints clinched the NFC South title with a 45-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.
Brees threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, the last a 9-yard strike to Darren Sproles that set the record with 2:51 to go.
“So many people contributed to this, and I’m happy for them,” Brees said.
It was Brees’ final pass of the game and it gave him 5,087 yards passing ― with one game still to play. Marino finished with 5,084 yards for the Miami Dolphins in 1984.
As Sproles spiked the ball, Brees put his arm over his head and started walking toward midfield while the Superdome crowd went wild and his teammates chased him down.
“Obviously it’s a special moment for the players, especially Drew,” Saints coach Sean Payton said. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Brees’ four touchdowns gave him 276 for his career, moving him ahead of Joe Montana (273) and Vinny Testeverde (275) for ninth all-time. He is the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 5,000 yards twice ― he had 5,069 in 2008.
Brees’ first scoring pass went for 8 yards to Marques Colston and the second for 9 yards to Jimmy Graham. Graham’s TD catch was his 10th of the season, a new franchise high for a tight end. In the third quarter, Brees hit Robert Meachem for a score from 24 yards, which made it 28-10.
The Saints also had 463 total yards, giving them more than 6,857 offensive yards for the season, breaking the 2008 club record of 6,571 yards. New Orleans continues to close in on the NFL-record of 7,075 offensive yards in a season set by the 2000 St. Louis Rams.
Brees might have broken the record in the third quarter if not for Sproles’ 92-yard kickoff return, which set up John Kasay’s 29-yard field goal. Brees also was intercepted twice in the game, once in the Falcons end zone, but New Orleans was still dominant enough to take a three-score lead.
