New Orleans Saints: From east to west Drew Brees is the best

In his 18th season in the NFL, Drew Brees has never been named league MVP yet he holds most of the meaningful passer records historically. We make the case.

Drew Brees, with his 40th birthday rapidly approaching, is arguably playing the best football of his career. This season alone Brees is on pace for 4,548 passing yards, 32 touchdowns, and a 77.4-percent completion rate. These numbers are impressive considering the 77.4-percent completion rate would be the highest of his career, and a new NFL record. The rest of the statistics are incredible considering his age, and this season marking the 18th of his career.

Drew Brees holds nearly every meaningful passer record in the book. While owning those records, Brees also has earned 11 Pro-Bowl appearances, the 2009 Super Bowl MVP, and two NFL Offensive Player of the Year Awards.

However, the only award Brees has yet to earn is the Most Valuable Player award for the NFL. He has come in as runner-up in 2006, 2009 and 2011. Nearly every year since joining the New Orleans Saints in 2006, Brees has played at an elite level unmatched by most quarterbacks in the NFL. Yet, year after year Brees is largely forgotten about while he silently puts up some of the best numbers in the history of the NFL.

Currently, Vegas has Brees in third for winning the MVP award behind Patrick Mahomes and Todd Gurley. As with most years Brees has been in the running for the award, there is always someone getting more media attention either because they play the game in a more “dynamic” way or play in a larger media market. However, Drew Brees has a league leading 118.2 Passer Rating, while Mahomes is third among qualifiers with a 115.3 rating to go along with his six interceptions and 65.6-percent completion rate.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Mahomes is an exceptional passer, especially considering it is his rookie campaign. However, Drew Brees has been more efficient this season in leading his offense, while continuing to put up career numbers and break records. The attention is on the rookie, and not on Brees because he is “expected” to play this way, because he always has. Simply put, Drew Brees has always been overlooked, and continues to be in favor of the trendy player of the week.

This week will be the make or break week for the case of Drew Brees as 2018 NFL MVP. If Brees can dominate the “top team” in the NFL this weekend, it almost certainly solidifies his case as MVP.

Touchdown Pass:

Marcus Davenport is out with a toe, and according to Larry Holder of The Athletic (subscription required), Davenport was seen in a boot. While there is no timetable for a return, it is expected he misses a significant amount of time, as our own Tony Twillie has a story about.

My New Orleans Saints fantasy pick of the week is Alvin Kamara. The Rams like to blitz, and I think this will be mitigated with a lot of screen passes to Kamara. This should add up to significant receptions and receiving yards.

Drew Brees should have much more passing attempts and yards this week compared to last week. The Rams defense is known to give up big secondary plays.