Brees Passing Yards 2017
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees becomes first quarterback in NFL history to go over 80,000 career passing yards. Brees finished the season with 364 completions, 489 attempts, 3,992 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns and five interceptions over 15 games. He sat out the season finale after the Saints had clinched the NFC's #1 seed the week prior. The Saints QB's highest single-season passing yards total is 5,476 yards, which he achieved in 2011, the same season Brady threw for his career high (5,235). However, while Brady has accumulated fewer passing yards, he averages more passing yards per completion (11.7) than Brees (11.3). Latest on New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees including complete game-by-game stats on ESPN.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Drew Brees had the most passing yards in the NFL last year. At age 37, Brees put together one of his greatest seasons for the New Orleans Saints, connecting on 70% of his passes and racking up 5,208 yards. It was the third straight passing title for Brees, and his fifth in the past six years – on top of his league-best 2006 and 2008 campaigns.
Naturally, Brees is the favorite to do it again. He’s available at +300 on the NFL props market at press time, ahead of New England Patriots QB Tom Brady at +600. Then it’s Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers and Derek Carr of the Oakland Raiders at +800. Do any of these players have a realistic shot at catching Brees this year?
Throw the Dang Ball
As long as Sean Payton is calling the shots in New Orleans, maybe not. Payton, a former quarterback himself, has put Brees in a position to succeed with a high-octane offensive playbook. The Saints rarely manage to match that level of play on defense, but that only encourages Brees to throw the ball more as New Orleans often has to play catch-up. Improvements on the offensive line should keep this veteran gunslinger on top for another season.
Brady will draw plenty of action this year, especially after missing the first four games of the 2016 regular season to that Deflategate suspension. However, Brady hasn’t led the NFL in passing yardage since 2007, and at age 39, there’s no reason for head coach Bill Belichick to test Brady’s arm in that fashion. Note that Brees also had more pass attempts and completions than anyone else last year. Brady made 36 attempts per game in 2016; Brees went to the air 42.1 times.
As for Rodgers, he has never led the league in any of those categories, and asking him to do so while playing home games at Lambeau Field might be a bit much. And Carr is coming off a truncated 2016 campaign that saw him break his leg in Week 16. If you’re looking for a non-Brees betting option, Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons is next on the list at +1000, despite finishing second to Brees last year with 4,944 passing yards. No doubt Ryan will be motivated to do even better after what happened at Super Bowl LI.
*Odds as of July 19, 2017
Another game, another astonishing accomplishment for Drew Brees. In the middle of Week 16’s first quarter, the New Orleans Saints quarterback and 11-time Pro Bowler became just the third player to surpass the 70,000 passing yard plateau.
Brees Passing Yards 2017 Scores
A screen to Mark Ingram is the play that did it. That’s pretty representative of what the Saints’ offense has been this season.
Brees joins Peton Manning (71,940 ) and Brett Favre (71,838), two all-time greats who were also joined by Brees earlier in the season as the only three passers to complete over 6,000 career passes. As for the passing yardage, Brees is on pace to move into first place sometime in October 2018 if he decides to return for another season.
Brees is on his way to leading the NFL in completion percentage for the fourth time in his career. He also leads the league in Adjusted Net Yards per attempt, showing his efficiency and ability to avoid the sack and the turnover.
Drew Brees Career Passing Yards
His primary focus is leading the Saints to an 11th victory and securing a playoff berth for the first time since 2013. New Orleans currently leads 3-0 near the end of the first quarter.