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More than ever, NFL teams are putting the ball in their quarterbacks' hands and letting it fly. Teams are throwing the ball at a record-shattering rate through the first three weeks of the season. Not only are they throwing more often and getting more sophisticated about how they do it, but they're also giving more control to quarterbacks at the line of scrimmage.




From 2007 to 2010, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees passed for more yards than any quarterback in NFL history (18,500) for a like period, and he's one of two quarterbacks to throw for more than 4,000 yards in five consecutive seasons, along with Peyton Manning.
It's an arms race. And few teams are as well-equipped as the New Orleans Saints, who have been ahead of this trend since Coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees arrived in 2006.

Never was that more on display than last Sunday's dramatic 40-33 victory over the Houston Texans. The Saints spent almost the entire fourth quarter in hurry-up mode, with an empty backfield, five receivers spread out wide and Brees calling his own plays and protections at the line of scrimmage.

"He got red hot," marveled Payton, who has never been afraid to hand Brees the keys to his offense. "When he got going last weekend, and you look at the ball distribution, it went to a lot of different players. It was something."

The Saints are 2-1 heading into today's game at Jacksonville (1-2), and Brees is performing as well as he ever has in his 11-year career.

He has been especially good in clutch situations, such as third downs and fourth quarters. He nearly led the Saints back with an improbable Week 1 rally at Green Bay. Then he did lead them from behind, twice, while the Saints scored a franchise-record 23 points in the fourth quarter against Houston.

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"I'd say that maybe that's one of the areas where we really feel like we can be dominant," Brees said of the late-game heroics. "Because, hey, every team's going to face that situation from time to time. But I think our attitude is always, 'Whatever happens in the first three quarters, we're going to put ourselves in a position to win in the end.'

"And I think when everybody has that mindset, you just go out and do it, whatever it takes. If you got to go no-huddle, empty (backfield) and throw it 20 consecutive times, we'll do it. If you've got to pound the ball for a first down, two first downs, we'll do it."

One of the most remarkable things about Brees always has been his ability to stay so accurate while chucking the ball down the field so often.

From 2007 to 2010, Brees passed for more yards than any quarterback in NFL history (18,500) for a like period, and he's one of two quarterbacks to throw for more than 4,000 yards in five consecutive seasons, along with Peyton Manning.

Brees ranks third in NFL history in completion percentage at 66.0 percent, behind retired quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Kurt Warner.

Pennington, who will serve as the analyst on today's television broadcast for Fox, only threw for 17,823 yards in his 11-year career with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. Brees has thrown for more than double that amount (36,325).

"I think what it shows you is his decision-making ability," Pennington said. "You can have a very accurate quarterback, but if he doesn't make good decisions with the football, it doesn't matter. (Brees) is accurate, and he makes good decisions. You put those two together, and it's an explosion."

Pennington said he also admires the way Payton and Brees work so well together -- another explosive combination.

"They have such a great feel for each other that it shows on the field," Pennington said. "You could tell in the fourth quarter, they decided, 'This is what we're going to do. It's in your hands Drew.' "

Rules changes and evolution

The Saints have been putting the game in Brees' hands for six years, but it's an approach that is becoming more common around the league.

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FireVenturi

Pay da Man!

QBREES9

LOL Pay Da Man is right

homerj07

Good article. I wonder if our "D" can defend against all these new plays/packages that the rest of the league copied from us?!

Rugby Saint II

Will Smith says that even they can't stop our offense in practice most of the time.

iceshack149

Yet we don't hear much about him much on the national level. We've heard more about Romo than we have Brees in most, if not all, big name media outlets. By far.

Sorry about throwing the hornets nest in here. I want better efforts from the big leagues. Forget the size of the fan base, report on the NFL.

saintfan

And unfortunately it's carrying over to the games.