At 39, Saints' Drew Brees having a season for the ages


Mike Triplett
ESPN Staff Writer

Drew Brees, whose 10-1 Saints play at Dallas (6-5) on Thursday (8:20 p.m. ET, Fox/NFL Network), has credited his performance to a combination of "wisdom, old age and treachery."

It seems impossible, but Brees is having the best season of his career -- in his 18th year, at age 39.

He might be having the best season any quarterback has ever had at any age.

Consider:

  • His passer rating of 127.3 is on pace to be the best in NFL history, ahead of Aaron Rodgers' 122.5 from 2011.
  • His Total QBR of 87.3 is on pace to be the highest since ESPN began tracking the statistic in 2006, ahead of Tom Brady's 87.0 from 2007.
  • His completion percentage of 76.4 is on pace to shatter the NFL record of 72.0, which Brees set last season.
  • With 29 touchdown passes and two interceptions, Brees is on pace to have the second-best TD-to-interception ratio in NFL history, behind Rodgers, who is at 20-1 this season. Brady holds the full-season record with 28 TDs and two interceptions in 2016.
  • Brees has thrown TD passes to 13 players this season, tied for the NFL record with Matt Ryan in 2016. Brees became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw TD passes to four undrafted players in a game last Thursday.
  • Brees' fourth-quarter passer rating of 133.9 is on pace to be the second best since at least 1991, behind only Russell Wilson's 134.1 in 2017, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
  • Brees' passer rating of 121.4 on third and fourth downs is the best in the NFL this season.
  • Brees' red zone passer rating of 117.7 is the best in the NFL this season.
  • Last but not least, with Brees at the helm, the 10-1 Saints have scored 37.2 points per game -- the fifth most through a team's first 11 games in NFL history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau


If he keeps this up, Brees might finally win the first regular-season MVP award of his career after finishing second three times (2006, 2009 and 2011). Brees leads all NFL players in balloting for the Pro Bowl through Wednesday and he was named the NFC's Offensive Player of the Month for November.