OT - Drew Brees surpasses Manning for all time TD throws, 541 and counting

The NFC South has historically been much stronger than the AFC East.

There's no asterisk on the record. The record is the record.

We don't have to take away from Brees just because Brady went to UM. 

The NFC South has had a couple of 13-3 Atlanta, 12-4 Carolina, and a 15-1 Carolina team in it to have to compete with, instead of the Jets and Dolphins. 

Brees and the offense has never been the problem in New Orleans. There was a period for a few years, between BountyGate and probably 2017ish, when their defense was atrocious and they had to try outscoring everyone to win. As good as Brees is, you can't always count on him to put up 35-40 points every Sunday. And when he can't, you need a defense that isn't a complete sieve. 

The NFC South is also usually pretty competitive. The Panthers and Falcons each had a few years in the last decade or so when they rose up, put great teams on the field and made it to Super Bowls. Even the Bucs throw in a few winning seasons here and there. I'd say its one of the more competitive divisions in the league. 

I think part of the reason you can attribute Brady having as many postseason TDs as he has is because he gets so many chances to get there. He plays in a division that minus a year or two with Rex Ryan in NY, and then this year with Buffalo, no one has ever been able to challenge him. The Bills, Dolphins and Jets are usually annual pushovers, and my guess is that you swap the Saints and Pats for their respective divisions, Brees probably has at least one more ring, while Brady probably has one or two less. Brady is great in his own right, but he oftentimes gets the path of least resistance to the playoffs. 

Still remember his game against Drew Henson.  They mapped out the throws on the field and they both threw all over and both had amazing games.  I think Henson still came out with the W. 

Of Brady, Henson, and Brees, I thought Brady would be solid career guy as career back up with a couple decent seasons where he managed an offense. Brees would not last long due to size and scrambling. And Henson would be elite.

woof on those predictions.  

Per my research: it's Brees 3, Brady 2. (Brees was 2-0 in San Diego and 1-2 with the Saints).  All regular-season games.

Brees with the wins in 2002, 2005, 2009.  Brady with the wins in 2013 and 2017.

Brees' visit to the Big House when I was a student ('99) was extremely unpleasant.  I HATED that guy, in a "I really wish we weren't playing against him" sort of grudging respect.

It's rare that you can go from not knowing a guy even existed to saying "(barring injury) he's going to have a long career in the NFL" with absolute certainty, but Brees was one of 'em.  Looking at the box score you'd think Michigan got the best of him and yeah they did (38-12 ain't exactly a collar-tugger), but watching it live was a different story.  He was staring at a horde of blue-clad berserkers all day.  Michigan's front 7 shredded Purdue's O-line like they were barely there yet we just could not get that guy on the ground.  Down after down, all game, a giant angry paw would be Drew Brees' face, only for him to flick a pass with surgical precision (not all were caught thank FSM).  He had the kind of day where an average college QB would get an effin' passing Rutger but instead he kept it competitive for well over a half.  He clearly had NFL QB chops even back then.  I mean, he goes to the NFL and basically does the exact same thing because yeah, nothing is stopping a guy that can do that.

Michigan pulled away late but gottdamn he made us sweat because even when it was 21-6 he gave you that vibe that he could take over the game the second Michigan's defense let up.  Like with Tom Brady, I wasn't going to predict he was a HoFer back then, but I wasn't in the least bit surprised that Tom Brady and Drew Brees became longtime NFL starters.

Brees also had to play on a lot worse teams. He may have a lot more Super Bowls if his defense hadn’t been consistently shit. 
 

Also Johnny Unitas is the greatest of all time. Literally changed the game of football, everyone is just an iteration of him.

Tony Dungy and Sean Payton aren't exactly chopped liver.

Manning turned the ball over more than Brady. Brady has more attempts but 70-80 fewer ints. Same story in the playoffs, Manning and Brady both have 11 fumbles but Brady has more games and a lower int% and higher td%. In the NFL turnovers are killer.

Brees is the better argument but you have other variables: dome and supporting cast. 

I would argue that Brady is the perfect QB for the Patriots system and you can’t just plug in a different QB and get the same result.

You aren’t actually serious, are you? Brady’s stats cover individual success as well as team performance. 

I get it, you don’t think Brady is the best. There’s an argument to be made for that. The inverse is also true. But to say Brady’s argument “always comes down to a team accomplishment” is just factually incorrect.

Does Brees throw the ball more than 15 yards downfield anymore?  I don't think his arm has more than maybe two more years left.

I don't see him (or Tom Brady, unfortunately) lasting much longer.  At some point both of those guys are going to fall off a cliff like Peyton Manning did. It's just a question of when. Even Tom Brady isn't likely to be playing at this level past 45.

Although at this point it wouldn't surprise me if the Pats won a Super Bowl even with an obviously fading Tom Brady, like Manning did his last season in Denver.