LKelley67

it may be too much for some but i like getting to know the guy-
(bold mine)

Game Summaries

Week 1 vs DAL - Brees playing without his favorite target of last season Antonio Gates led the team on scoring drives on four of the teams eight possessions. His interception on the last drive was on a tipped pass. It’s too early to panic as he clearly missed Gates who’ll return for Week 2. In the absence of Gates, Brees seemed to lock on to Keenan McCardell.

Week 2 at DEN - After going three and out on their opening drive, Drew Brees engineered drives of 80 yards and 83 yards that both ended in touchdown runs by LaDainian Tomlinson. Brees was given time to throw in the first half but saw more pressure from the Broncos in the second half. Keenan McCardell and Antonio Gates saw the vast majority of targets from Brees, particularly on third down plays. Brees was sacked four times, fumbling on a hit from Ian Gold. The opening play of the second half was a poorly thrown pass from Brees that was intercepted by Champ Bailey and returned for a touchdown. Brees was also picked in the fourth quarter but the play was overturned after the Chargers challenged the call.

Week 3 vs NYG - Drew Brees was phenomenally accurate against the Giants, going 19 of 22. He hit both Antonio Gates and Keenan McCardell for touchdowns. He led his team on seven scoring drives. Despite a relatively low yardage total, he was nearly perfect.

Week 4 at NE - Drew Brees had another stellar outing, this time against one of the league’s better (but injury depleted) units. Brees constantly made crisp, accurate passes all afternoon, and picked apart the Patriots’ secondary with precision. Brees’ touchdown passes were things of beauty, especially the one to Reche Caldwell. He didn’t seem to lock onto any one receiver, and spread the ball around fairly evenly. During the second half, Brees converted so many third downs it seemed as if San Diego would never be stopped. At one point in the telecast, CBS commentator Phil Simms said about Brees, “He looks a lot like Tom Brady out there.� High praise indeed, but it was warranted after the performance Brees put on. If this keeps up for Brees, he’ll force the Chargers into keeping him around. And if they should choose to deal him, he would certainly net a lot in return. Brees lost four yards passing on a play called back due to penalty.

Week 5 vs PIT - Brees started off slowly, completing one of four, but managed the game well from that point on. He used Tomlinson, Gates and Parker on short and medium range routes often in taking whatever the Steelers gave him. He got in a groove in the second quarter completing five of six before Antonio Gates let a pass slip through his hands for an interception. Down 14, Brees then led San Diego to 16 unanswered points. He tossed an 11 yard touchdown pass to Gates in the second quarter and then helped the Chargers get in field goal range on three consecutive drives in the second half. It is within those field goal drives that might raise an eyebrow as two ended with incomplete passes and the other on a completion short of the first down. Even so, Brees was effective and helped put up 22 points against a top defense.

Week 6 at OAK - Brees was quietly efficient, completing 70% of his passes and tossing a score to a wide-open LaDainian Tomlinson for 35 yards. Brees wasn’t asked to do much in the second half, as the Chargers merely waited out the clock for the most part and Brees was just three of eight after halftime. He was nearly intercepted on a third down play late in the game, which was a curious call to begin with since San Diego was trying to run out the clock. Outside of that one dangerous pass, Brees was flawless. He could have had an earlier touchdown pass to WR Keenan McCardell, but the receiver simply dropped the ball in the end zone.

Week 7 at PHI - Brees played reasonably well and efficiently in this game, as he was able to make a number of big throws and rally his team from a ten point second half deficit. He was pressured all afternoon by a heavy rush from Philadelphia blitzers, and more often than not, made good reads to find the open receiver. His first touchdown came on a 19 yard strike to Keenan McCardell after he looked the safety off then threw the ball into tight single coverage. Brees’ second touchdown pass came on a nice throw to Antonio Gates on a short fade pattern. Brees’ cannot be blamed for his first interception, which drilled McCardell in the shoulder pads before landing in the hands of an Eagles’ defender.

Week 8 vs KC - Brees was again efficient, despite a rocky start. Of his first ten passes, several were off-line, too high, deflected at the line, etc. He just didn’t look very sharp. He was bailed out on a couple of occasions by his receivers making excellent plays. As the game went on, Brees started looking better and better, until the point where it appeared he could once again do very little wrong. His touchdown passes to Gates were all outstanding throws, especially the first one. Brees wasn’t perfect, as evidenced by the interception and the slow start. Not only that, Brees had several passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage by defenders. But when it came time to make throws, Brees made several perfect passes, threading the needle with precision and incredible accuracy. Brees lost two yards passing on a play that was called back for penalty.

Week 9 at NYJ - He didn’t have as great a game as the stats would seem to indicate, but once again didn’t make many glaring mistakes. He put up big numbers mostly courtesy of the ability of both Antonio Gates and LaDainian Tomlinson to make something happen after the catch. The Chargers ran a number of quick slants and short passes to get the ball into the hands of the playmakers, though on several occasions Brees made perfect passes down the middle to a streaking Antonio Gates. Basically, Brees “managed the game�. Brees made a bad read on two consecutive plays late in the second quarter, where he had open receivers in the end zone but failed to see them over the oncoming pass rush. He also made a bad mistake on the interception he threw, as he was falling backward and tried to make a pass that he can’t. Lastly, while it wasn’t entirely his fault, he did fumble to give the Jets the ball in San Diego territory, rather than putting the game out of reach. Fantasy owners should know that Brees didn’t play a spectacular game, but as long as he’s playing pitch and catch with the two big playmakers, he can continue to be a good fantasy option.

Week 11 vs BUF - Brees turned in one of the best performances of his career. He spread the ball around magnificently to his receivers, and combined both quick passes with the occasional downfield strike to put up some very big stats. Early in the game, the Chargers opted to attack mostly with WR screens and quick passes. Yet when asked to make a pass downfield, Brees was on the money. His second touchdown pass, to WR Eric Parker, was a thing of beauty as Brees executed a nice pump-fake before heaving the ball downfield to a wide-open Parker. He faced almost no pressure from the Buffalo front, and it showed in his ability to survey the field and pick the most open guy.

Week 12 at WAS - Brees played what can be called his first really poor game of the season. While he hasn’t been asked to carry the load too often (besides last week), he still had been putting up terrific stats. Sunday, the Redskins’ pressure continuously got to him, forcing him into some bad passes. San Diego made an adjustment towards the middle of the second quarter, and began attacking with more quick strikes like we’ve seen from them in recent weeks. Even so, Washington was still able to get so much pressure on Brees that the passes weren’t coming out of his hands crisply. What’s more, he had to hurry the throws so a lot of times his intended receiver didn’t have enough time to adjust for the ball. That was probably the main reason for San Diego receivers dropping an astounding eight of Brees’ passes (four by Antonio Gates alone). Brees nearly connected with Reche Caldwell on a touchdown pass in the second quarter, but the Washington pressure forced a hurried throw, and the pass fell inches from the diving receiver. Brees turned the ball over three times, though he entered the game having thrown just eight interceptions all season long. On one of the interceptions, Brees was looking deep down the sideline and had the ball snagged by Carlos Rogers. Had the ball been thrown a bit further, it could have been an easy touchdown. The day could have been even worse for Brees too, as LaVar Arrington nearly intercepted a pass over the middle, and Rogers had his hands on another deep pass to Vincent Jackson, but both passes were dropped by the defenders. On the other hand, Brees did suffer his share of bad luck as well. His Hail Mary pass to the end zone at the end of regulation was tipped up into the air and intercepted by Washington. He also had another pass deflected up in the air and subsequently picked off. Brees was the targeted receiver on a pass attempt from LaDainian Tomlinson early in the first quarter, but the pass was broken up.

Week 13 vs OAK - Brees only had 40 yards with a little more than six minutes left in the second quarter, but on the Chargers fourth drive, he completed all five of his pass attempts for 44 yards. Brees continued to look good in the second half, making a great pass to Eric Parker after eluding two tacklers and finishing the drive off with a one yard touchdown pass to Parker. He ended the first half completing all five of his passes and leading his team to a touchdown, which put them up by seven. He finished the game with efficient numbers, completing 17 of 22 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Week 14 vs MIA - All you really need to do is look at Brees’ stat line to see San Diego lost. Anytime a Marty Schottenheimer-coached team is throwing the football 50+ times in a game (30 in the first half alone), it usually means bad news. Brees set career highs in both attempts and completions, though his productivity didn’t reflect the inordinate amount of passes he made. He was misfiring badly early on, sailing several passes well over the heads of his intended targets. He settled down on the second drive of the game, which culminated in his first touchdown pass of the afternoon. It was on that drive that he made a great improv play by dumping the ball to Lorenzo Neal for a five yard gain rather than taking a sack. After those nice plays however, it was pretty much all downhill. Brees took a sack late in the first half at a crucial point to knock the Chargers out of field goal range, three points they could have sorely used at the end of the game. He also had an extremely costly fumble that, in essence, ended the game. San Diego still technically had a chance to win later, but down nine with just over a minute to play and no timeouts isn’t really how one draws it up. He salvaged his day and actually turned it into a terrific fantasy game by running in a four yard touchdown and adding a late scoring pass to TE Antonio Gates to get the Chargers to within two, but neither play was particularly difficult. On the Gates play, it was more a great effort by Gates than anything else. Brees was nearly intercepted by Travis Daniels, but Daniels was unable to corral the pass. Brees lost two completions (but zero yards) on passes to Lorenzo Neal that were called back due to penalties.

Week 15 at IND - Brees opened the scoring with a long pass play to Keenan McCardell for a touchdown. On the play, Brees used a pump-fake to the right before throwing back down the seam for the score. Brees has become extremely adept at using the pump-fake, and is certainly one of the best in the league at utilizing it. In addition to the touchdown, San Diego came out throwing the ball almost non-stop. The Colts appeared content with stopping Tomlinson and letting Brees beat them. And, for a time, he did just that. Even though the Chargers weren’t scoring touchdowns (Brees threw incomplete to Antonio Gates late in the second quarter on third and goal from the 4, and San Diego settled for a field goal), they were marching downfield for points and had compiled a 16-0 advantage late in the third quarter. That’s when things started to go wrong. First, he was hurried and intercepted in San Diego territory. That led to an Edgerrin James touchdown. Then on the next possession, he fumbled inside the five yard line and the Colts recovered it. This led to a Dallas Clark touchdown. The Colts turned a 16-3 deficit into a 17-16 lead within a span of three minutes thanks to two costly turnovers. Even in the fourth quarter when the Chargers caught a break (fumbled kick return), Brees gave the gift right back to the Colts when he was intercepted in the end zone. He made up for that later on, though. Just as the Colts appeared ready to put the game away, Brees made his most important completion of the year. With 8:47 left to play and facing a third and nine from his own nine yard line, he completed a 54 yard pass to a streaking Keenan McCardell. A faster receiver may have scored on the play, but regardless it was a huge play in the game. Brees’ ability to remain calm and cool even with the season on the line was outstanding, and he really rallied the team with LaDainian Tomlinson on the bench with an injury.
Week 16 at KC - Brees produced fairly well for the day with 161 yards and one touchdown. He even contributed 31 yards rushing. He had too many of his passes dropped. The one pass that bounced off of Tomlinson’s hands might have been the beginning of the end for the Chargers against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. His playoff dreams are gone for this year, but he can still play for pride and the chance at a big new contract next year.

Week 17 vs DEN - QB Drew Brees suffered a potentially serious shoulder injury. Brees dislocated his right shoulder when he dove onto a pile to try and recover a fumble. His arm was pinned underneath another player as his body rolled forward, and the injury looked bad at the time. Brees didn’t appear to be in excruciating pain, but he didn’t look all that comfortable, either. He held his arm straight in front of himself as he walked off the field, and was ruled out of the game within minutes. After the game, WFAN radio in New York was reporting that Brees will have to undergo surgery to repair the injury and also may have torn the labrum in his shoulder. If that is the case, then any trade talks involving Philip Rivers would have to be put on hold, as Brees’ status for the beginning of the 2006 season would be in question.

As for the game, Brees didn’t do much during the brief time he was in the game. His favorite targets in the early going were the standards: McCardell, Gates, Parker, and then Tomlinson in that order. He was bailed out on a possible interception run back for a touchdown when Broncos’ LB Ian Gold dropped a sure pick that could have gone the other way for six.

FireVenturi

Looks like if we can keep the heat off this guy we will do just fine...

LKelley67

hey FV good to see ya. as i mentioned to BrooksMustGo, maybe the administrators can let you switch IDs and keep the veteran status. do we really want any remembrance of these past dark years?