New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees made NFL history on “Monday Night Football,” lobbing four touchdown passes against the Indianapolis Colts defense to win 34-7. That effort put him ahead of both New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and retired passer Peyton Manning, who left the game with an NFL-record 539 career passing touchdowns.
Now, Brees has raised the bar up to 541. And who better to dig into the tape and explain how the Saints did it than NFL analyst Brian Baldinger?
Baldinger featured Brees and his teammates during a “Baldy’s Breakdowns” segment on Twitter, in which he uses game tape from the coach’s angle to highlight big plays and underrated moments.
“The New Orleans Saints passing game is different than almost every other team,” Baldinger said while reviewing Brees’ first touchdown pass. “Now in part because of Drew Brees. It’s a timing and spacing passing game. Maybe I’m thinking too much about this, but watch the spacing of all three receivers as Drew Brees gets ready to throw this ball.”
Baldinger noted how well-rehearsed the Saints’ receiving corps have become, picking out where all three of Brees’ options on his opening touchdown pass were in relation to each other at the time of the throw.
He continued, “Now when he throws this, they all just hit the goal line together. And if you look at Josh Hill, Michael Thomas, and Tre’Quan Smith, they’re exactly equidistant apart. It’s math, right? But lets’s spread the seven defenders out as much as we can, and we’ll open the windows as wide as we can.”
Baldinger then circled back in a second video to review that first score from a different perspective, before stringing together each of the subsequent touchdown passes, including the record-breaker.
