They are from all over the country ? New Orleans' Drew Brees, New England's Tom Brady, the New York Giants' Eli Manning, Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, Detroit's Matthew Stafford, and San Diego's Philip Rivers ? and they're throwing the football all over the map. With two games to go, their numbers could shoot into the stratosphere.
Brees is the leader of the pinpoint-passing pack, averaging 341.4 yards per game. He has 4,780 yards and needs just 305 more to eclipse the single-season record of 5,084, set by Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino in 1984. That could come Monday night against Atlanta.Three years ago, Brees came oh so close to breaking Marino's record, falling 16 yards short but becoming just the second quarterback in NFL history to surpass 5,000 yards.
"When I sit back and look at it, that record's stood for a long time," Brees said at the time. "One of greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game owns it." He said he wasn't sure that breaking the record while his team fell to 8-8 ? as the Saints did that season ? was "necessarily the way that record deserves to be broken.
"That's why I'm able to accept the fact it didn't happen."
There will be no such capitulation this season. The 11-3 Saints are tied with San Francisco for the second-best record in the league, have locked up a wild-card berth, and have the NFC South title in their cross hairs. Brees is the embodiment of the mobile and deadly accurate quarterback that's so coveted by teams, and he's on a historic pace.
Tim Tebow's ground-bound style notwithstanding, the NFL has evolved into a high-scoring passer's league, and 4,000-yard seasons have become the new gold standard. A record 10 quarterbacks accomplished that feat in 2009. There easily could be nine by the end of this season ? with Indianapolis' Peyton Manning on the sidelines ? as Dallas' Tony Romo (3,895), Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger (3,856), and Carolina's Cam Newton (3,722) are within range.
New Orleans Coach Sean Payton was asked this week if he's surprised Marino's record has lasted 27 years.
"I don't know that anything really surprises you," he said. "Our game has evolved. I think you're seeing very good quarterback play. . . . Typically, these records in our league all get broken, and some of them just have a longer shelf life than others."
A glimpse at this season's 4,000-yard passers:
DREW BREESNew Orleans (4,780 yards)
HE'S NO. 1
Brees is ranked first in the league in attempts, completions, yardage, third-down passer rating and completion percentage, and second in touchdown passes and passer rating.
BY THE NUMBERS
11: 300-yard passing games in 2011, the league's single-season record.
41: Consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass, the second-longest streak in NFL history. Johnny Unitas holds the record with 47.
18,500: Brees' passing-yardage total from 2007-10, the league's highest total over any four-year span.
DID YOU KNOW?
darknet james ray williston nd williston nd mists of pandaria mists of pandaria 20 20
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.