New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - Saints morning report: Brees' elusive 300

METAIRIE, La. -- Believe it or not, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has a chance to accomplish something he's never done before Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Brees has never thrown for 300 yards in five career games against the Rams. The only other NFL team Brees has never thrown for 300 yards against is the Saints.

Brees has 76 300-yard passing games in the regular season in his career -- 69 of them since joining the Saints in 2006.

No returns: As WWLTV.com's Bradley Handwerger pointed out, the Saints are the only team in the NFL without any return touchdowns this year -- on defense or special teams.

The Saints have had at least two return touchdowns every year during the Sean Payton era -- including nine during their Super Bowl season in 2009. Last year they had four defensive touchdowns, even while struggling so much on that side of the ball, plus a fifth return touchdown on a blocked punt.

The Saints also had zero return touchdowns in 2005. Before that, you have to go back to 1982 to find a zero in that category.

Broken records? The Denver Broncos offense fell back to earth a little bit in Thursday night's 27-20 loss to the San Diego Chargers. In the process their chances of breaking some Saints records from 2011 took a bit of a hit.

Denver quarterback Peyton Manning is still on pace to break Drew Brees' NFL record of 5,476 yards in a season. But barely. Manning needs 666 yards over the final two games to pass Brees.

The Broncos as a team, meanwhile, are now well behind the Saints' pace for most total yards by a team -- 7,474. After gaining a total of just 307 yards on Thursday night, the Broncos now need to average 563.5 yards per game over the final two games to pass New Orleans.

Worth a click:

Saints left tackle Charles Brown is a better player now than the last time he went to St. Louis in 2011 and had his “worst professional game,” writes The Times-Picayune's Katherine Terrell.

ESPN.com's Rams reporter Nick Wagoner reflects on Saints assistant head coach Joe Vitt's time in St. Louis.

Saints cornerback Corey White is listed among last week's “secret superstars” by Pro Football Focus.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson -- who was punished for an illegal hit against the Saints earlier this year, among others -- said he feels “targeted” because of his reputation as a dirty player, writes ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas.

The Saints were almost a unanimous pick to win this week but not quite, according to ESPN's panel of analysts.

ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini writes that the Jets like what they have in former Saints running back Chris Ivory.

Saints morning report: Brees' elusive 300 - New Orleans Saints Blog - ESPN