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New Orleans Saints 2020 season recap: Drew Brees

Brees continued to rewrite NFL history books during the 2020 campaign

Feb 01, 2021 at 10:38 AM

Sam Shannon

Drew Brees 2020 season analysis:

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees began his 20th NFL season and 15th season in New Orleans on a historic note. Brees became the NFL's all-time leader in pass attempts during a 34-23 win over Tampa Bay, surpassing Brett Favre's 10,169 attempts, finishing the game with 30 attempts and moving to 10,191 for his career. Brees finished the Week 1 showdown with 160 yards on 18-for-30 passing and two touchdowns in front of a fan-less Mercedes-Benz Superdome. With his two touchdown passes in the contest, Brees surpassed Peyton Manning for second-most multi-touchdown games in his career, with 166. Brees has thrown for at least two touchdowns in nine of his 15 season-openers with the Saints. In Week 5, Brees engineered an overtime game-winning drive against the Los Angeles Chargers where he completed five-of-six passes for 41 yards to set up Wil Lutz's 36-yard field goal to secure the victory. It was his 51st fourth quarter/overtime game-winning drive and 36th fourth quarter comeback of his career. Those marks rank second (Peyton Manning, 54) and third (Manning 43, Tom Brady 37) in NFL history. Following the Week 6 bye, Brees became the first player in NFL history to reach 7,000 career completions in a 27-24 win over the Carolina Panthers, finishing the game 29-of-36 passing for 287 yards and two touchdowns. In Week 10 vs. San Francisco, Brees competed in his 300th career game (regular season/postseason combined). Brees completed 8-of-13 passes for 76 yards and one touchdown, before leaving the game at halftime due to a rIb injury. It was later revealed that Brees had multiple rib fractures on both sides of his chest and a collapsed lung on his right side, forcing Brees to miss the next four weeks of the season. In Week 15, the Saints franchise quarterback returned to action and finished 15-of-34 for 234 yards and three touchdowns, marking the 96th time Brees has thrown for at least three touchdowns. During a Christmas Day victory over Minnesota, Brees regained his rhythm while becoming the first player in NFL history to surpass 80,000 passing yards in his career, doing so on a nine-yard completion to running back Latavius Murray. Brees finished the game 19-of-26 for 311 yards, surpassing 300 passing yards for the 123rd time in his career and third time in the 2020 season. In the Wild Card round of the playoffs vs. Chicago, Brees finished 28-of-39 for 265 yards and two touchdowns, moving into fourth all-time in NFL postseason records with 462 career completions, surpassing Joe Montana. In his 17th postseason appearance, Brees earned a passer rating over 100.0 for the eighth time. In a Divisional round matchup that featured Brees and Tom Brady, two of the best to ever play the quarterback position, Brees passed for 134 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions in the season-ending loss.

Best game of Drew Brees' 2020 season:

If you ever questioned a quarterback's toughness, then look at what Brees did in Week 10 against the San Francisco 49ers. After falling behind 10-0 at the start of the second quarter, Brees led New Orleans to a 17-10 halftime advantage. It was later revealed that he suffered cracked ribs in the prior game against the Bucs, but then suffered a collapsed lung and more broken ribs in the first half of the San Francisco game. Despite that, Brees played through the pain and gave the Saints a momentum boost heading into the locker room which resulted in a 27-13 victory.

Best quote from Drew Brees' 2020 season:

"This is our 15th season here in the Sean Payton era and we have had a bunch of great teams here. And there have been a bunch of great teams around our division that have been Super Bowl-caliber teams. And I think it just says a lot about the division when no team has ever swept the division. You understand how hard it is to win the division, kind of week in and week out. And there are so many battles. And it is kind of like regardless of record too, you are getting everything that each of those teams has and I think we just, we understand the significance of that. And obviously, that would be a great accomplishment. But at the end of the day, it's just getting another win, which just even better positions ourselves for the playoffs."

2020 Saints Season Photos: Drew Brees