[jwplayer IWFR8E8g-ThvAeFxT]
There’s a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, and the New Orleans Saints have held onto a timeout or two. The kickoff return unit has put the Saints offense in good — not great — starting field position. Drew Brees is under center, having rattled off the play call and waved his teammates into position. Down by a score, the Saints need him to make some last-minute magic to end the day with a win.
How many times has this story played out since Brees first came to town? More importantly, how many times has he came through with what should have been a game-winning drive, only for his defense to choke and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
The answer to that second question is 21. Brees has retaken the lead 21 times in his Saints career on a go-ahead scoring drive, only to watch helplessly from the sidelines as his defenses cave under pressure and allow their opponents to surge back with their own salvo. That number includes the playoffs, and ties the total set by three other quarterbacks put with (or mistakenly above) Brees in discussions concerning “the greatest of all time.”
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has had to put up with this unique incompetence only four times in the 322 games he’s played in the NFL. Retired great Peyton Manning dealt with just six such answering-score comebacks from teams he put on the ropes throughout his 266-game career. Green Bay Packers signal-caller Aaron Rodgers has had it the worst of the non-Brees bunch, watching his defense fold against 11 last-second efforts (out of 195 career games).
Let’s reiterate that, to really drive the point home: Brady, Manning, and Rodgers have put their team ahead with a would-be game-winning drive only to lose anyway a combined 21 times in the 783 games they’ve played in the NFL, while Brees has found himself in the same situation 21 times in just 287 games. In other words, the combined defenses Brady, Manning, and Rodgers played with let them down in 2.7% of the games they’ve each played, while Brees has had to face his defense with a thousand-yard stare in 7.3% of their games together.
That’s almost too hard to believe. It speaks to the years of neglect and inadequacy the Saints have put out on defense, going back to the years when the likes of Gregg Williams, Steve Spagnuolo, and Rob Ryan were coaching the other side of the ball. Dennis Allen has done a better job than most during Brees’ tenure in New Orleans, but his flop on Sunday — in which he either chose or forgot to cover San Francisco’s best player, tight end George Kittle, on a last-second fourth-and-two that set up the game-winning field goal — is a painful reminder that Brees can do everything right and still lose the game, despite how talented and effective his defense has been in recent years.
[lawrence-related id=24207]
[vertical-gallery id=24148]