Can Drew Brees break Dan Marino’s single season passing record? YES

Drew Brees could eclipse Marino

Just an observation or maybe a prophecy? I believe that Drew Brees the New Orleans Saints gunslinger CAN beat Dan Marino, the former Miami Dolphins quarterback’s sing season passing yardage record.

In just six games Drew Brees has aired it out for an incredible 1,993 yards.

That is an average of 332 yards a game, which extrapolated over a 16 game regular season would equate to 5,314 yards.

Dan Marino’s phenomenal 5,084 yards in 1984, only his second season in the league, is a record that has held firm for almost a quarter of a decade.

Back then Marino led his team to a 14-2 record and an appearance in Superbowl XIX (an eventual loss to a Joe Montana led 49ers team) by passing to the Marx Brothers (wideouts Mark Duper and Mark Clayton) veteran Nat Moore and the likes of Tony Nathan and Dan Johnson (te).

In that season Marino averaged 317 yards passing a game, and his season included 7 300+ yard passing games and 3 400+ yards passing games. In fact the Fins lowest passing output was 183 yards in a win against bitter division rivals the New York Jets.

Brees has had his fair share of bad luck regarding his supporting cast in 2008 with injuries to stud wideout Marques Colston, veteran wideout David Patten, and tattoo’d tight end Jeremy Shockey.

Brees has got the deep threat covered with Devery Henderson, who has an insane 32.1 yards a catch, he also has an impressive support wr stepping up in a big way in the shape of Lance Moore.

It is the catching skills of the 2008 Saints running backs that is what is really helping Brees to look like a mastermind. Look at the evidence – 59 catches between them in 6 games – that’s almost 10 running back catches a game;
2008 Saints RB catches
• Reggie Bush – 41 catches – 361 yards
• Pierre Thomas – 7 catches – 48 yards
• Mike Karnery – 6 catches – 10 yards
• Deuce McAllister – 3 catches – 17 yards
• Aaron Stecker – 2 catches – 18 yards

I think Brees has the surrounding talent to pass for 5,200 yards in 2008 and break Marino’s record.

We in the UK have the pleasure and the honour of watching Breestake on the San Diego Chargers (the team that drafted Brees from Purdue in 2001).

Teams that come and play in London at Wembley tend to struggle to adapt to the cold weather and the rather neutral fan base, but we could be in for something pretty special as Breesgoes after the rather poorly performing Chargers pass defense.

Lets hope for everyone’s sake that the game features more that just two touchdowns (as was the case when the Giants beat the Dolphins in 2007 at Wembley).

We could be witnessing in London one chapter (chapter 8 of 16) of the book that crowns Drew Brees the single season highest passing yards champion.

Wouldn’t that be something swell to tell the grandchildren, and if it does happen, it could be a record to stay for another 25 seasons.

I think he can do it – do you think Brees can break Marino’s record ?…….

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Is Reggie Bush the best wide-back in the NFL ? Yes a wide-back

Run Reggie Run and maybe catch a few passes too - Photo by J Robbins

Someone posting on my blog this week made the remark that the New Orleans Saints had an impressive outing running the ball in Week 1 after I put in a post that two backs that both got around 5o yards on the ground each was not exactly setting the world alight.

I stick by that, but I did say at the time that Reggie Bush could legitimately catch 150 passes in a season. Bush is creating a position that is almost unique, a dumpoff back that is gameplanned to be dumped off to as a first resort by Drew Brees, not a last resort after seeing a primary and secondary target man marked.

I call him the best wide-back in the NFL !

It got me thinking who is the best catching running back in NFL history (past and present combined) ?

Well here are the top running back/full backs listed by the amount of regular season receptions they have made Up to end of 2007, and the team they had the most impact on and then average catches per year (in brackets)

TOP 5 all time – all retired

Larry Centers – 827 catches – Arizona Cardinals – Full Back – 1990-2003 (64 catches a year)

Marshall Faulk – 767 catches – St Louis Rams – Running back – 1994 – 2005 (70 catches a year)

Keith Byars – 610 catches – Philadelphia Eagles – Fullback – 1986-1998 (51 catches a year)

Marcus Allen – 587 catches – Los Angeles Raiders – Running back 1982-1997 (39 catches a year)

Tiki Barber – 586 catches – New York Giants – Running back  1997-2006 (65 catches a year)

Top 5 – active all playing in 2008 in NFL

Warwick Dunn – 463 catches –  Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 1997 – now (46 catches a season)

LaDanian Tomlinson – 458 catches – San Diego Chargers  – 2001 – now (76 catches a season)

Edgerrin James – 418 catches – Indianapolis Colts – 1999 – now (52 catches a season)

Michael Pittman – 415 catches – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 1998 – now (46 catches a year)

Ahman Green – 364 catches – Green Bay Packers – 1998 – now (40 catches a season)

Where does Reggie Bush fit in ?

Reggie Bush – 161 catches – New Orleans Saints – 2006 – now (81 catches a season)

Other current contender in the NFL

Brian Westbrook – 347 catches – Philadelphia Eagles – 2002 – now (69 catches a season)

So what do the numbers tell us ? Well if we extrapolate Reggie Bush’s season average over a 10 year period then you have Bush at 810 catches and he becomes the all time greatest catching running back in NFL history.

Both the Chargers LT and the Eagles Brian Westbrook have proved over a longer period that they are true dual talents both running and receiving – Westbrook has two 1,200+ rushing seasons to add to his catches and LT has a mind blowing 7 1,200 yard + ground yard seasons.

Reggie Bush is in my opinion not a #1 running back but he is an All Pro wide-back – maybe I have given Reggie a title that matches his talents ! He is not a 1,500 yard running back but he is a 1,500 yard a season gainer (not even including his punt returns). 

Who do you think the best wide back is in NFL history ?

Chargers (0-1) and Saints (1-0) Watch – Week 1

Dante Rosario silences the Charger fans in week 1 (Photo by AP)

With just one game gone in the season it’s hard to tell who are the contenders and who are the dead-enders.

It was a really wild start to the season for both the London bound teams and the ideal way to begin my series of weekly updates on the London bound New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers.

At Qualcomm stadium you could have heard a pin drop when Jake Delhomme took a rather high snap, avoided the pass rush pump faked and then hit Dante Rosarioin the endzone as the Carolina Panthers stole a 26-24 win against the Chargers in California.

Elsewhere in Louisiana Saints linebacker Scott Fujita grabbed a bullet pass from Jeff Garcia in the final minute of the game to seal a tough 24-20 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Notes about the Chargers

♣ Shawne ‘Lights Out’ Merriman had just two tackles and failed to get to Jake Delhomme

♣ 3rd round rookie Jacob Hester did not touch the ball – Ill keep everyone updated. The other lesser known rookie fullback Mike Tolbert did have an impressive start with 3 runs for 6 yards and 3 catches for 35 yards and two first downs

My Week 1 grade – Offense B, Defense C, Special Teams C

Notes about the Saints

♥ Deuce McAllister did not play, and without his bruising style the Saints running back combo of Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas failed to make a big impression on the ground. Reggie Bush did have a fantastic game with 8 catches for 112 yards and a score. Lets face it Bush can catch dink and dunk passes all day long and just kill teams – he could catch 150 passes legitimately in a single season.

My Week 1 grade – Offense A-, Defense C, Special Teams C

In summary both teams showed that they can compete, but they will win games with their offense more than their defense. With 7 weeks until Wembley I cannot wait.

What was YOUR first impression of the Chargers and the Saints in Week 1? ……………….

Deuce McAllister is back – will he make a difference?

Guess who’s back, Deuce is back, lalala(to the tune of that Eminem song). Question is how much of a difference will running back Deuce McAllister make to the win column of the New Orleans Saints in 2008?

By the time the Saints come over the play the San Diego Chargers in England on October 26 we will already know if Deuce has had the desired effect, or if his season will be yet another write-off ?

McAllister when fit is an imposing figure, a big old-fashioned bruiser who is capable of dominating a game with some good ol’ ‘school of hard knocks’ football.

He also has the perfect foil in the form of tailback Reggie Bush. The Heisman Trophy winner of 2006, Bush, has shown that whilst he has incredible hands (161 catches in just 28 career games) he is not the answer as the starting running back for the Saints, with a not so hot 3.7 yards a carry career average.

In 2006, with Deuce and Bush both fit, and performing using their different backfield styles, the Saints shocked the world and found themselves just a single game away from the Superbowl.

In 2007, with Deuce missing 13 games due to injury, and Bush again making an impact as a dumpoff/screen pass receiver, but not as a starting running back, the Saints regressed to 7-9, and missed out on a playoff spot.

Saints backup running backs Aaron Stecker, the former Scottish Claymores NFL Europe legend, and rookie Pierre Thomas both performed admirably, with Brees using his backs to dumpoff more passes than a fleet of dumptrucks dumping rubbish. Stecker in fact started 6 games, and had an extremely respectable 2007 output, but neither however have the intimidating presence of Deuce.

The Saints are a better team with Deuce McAllister in the backfield, but with 25 games missed in the last three seasons there is no guarantee that Deuce will even make it to Wembley.

I for one hope when I turn up at the Venue of Legends on a wet and windy October sunday night for the NFL International game between the Saints and the San Diego Chargers that number #26 is in the backfield.

Good Luck to Deuce to keep fit, the Saints add a big ol’ weapon to their arsenal with McAllister in the backfield, and I think he makes a 3-5 game difference in the win column.

With Brees able to find quality wideouts such as Colston and Patten (again when fit – boy did he suck as a Redskin) and being able to offer a bruising running game and a finesse running game in addition means the Saints can mix and match better than a 4 year old with a big box of Lego.

Do you think Deuce is a difference maker or am I talking a lot of hot air ? Comments below all welcome….