Drew Brees Passes Dan Marino for 3rd-Most Passing Yards in NFL History

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has set another career benchmark on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, passing Dan Marino for third on the all-time passing yards list against the New York Giants. 

Brees started the 2016 season with 60,903 passing yards, just 458 behind Marino on the career list. He nearly hit that mark in Week 1 against the Oakland Raiders, throwing for 423 yards in a 35-34 loss. 

Since joining the Saints, Brees has been a model of consistency at the most important position on the field. 

Coming into this season, Brees threw for 48,555 yards with 348 touchdowns and 152 interceptions in 10 years with the Saints. He's led the NFL in passing yards six times, completions and touchdowns four times and completion percentage three times during that span. 

This is not the first time Brees has surpassed Marino in the NFL record books. He broke the Miami Dolphins legend's single-season record of 5,084 passing yards in 2011 when he threw for 5,476 yards. It was the first of three straight seasons in which Brees threw for more than 5,000 yards. He previously hit the 5,000-yard mark in 2008.

Last year, Brees moved ahead of Marino into third place on the career completions list on a pass to Brandin Cooks in Week 2 and finished the season with 5,365. 

Before the NFL season started, B/R compiled a list of stats and information suggesting Brees has been historically better than Marino:

The numbers skew heavily toward Brees, but it's important to remember Marino played in an era when the passing game wasn't nearly as prolific as it is now, and defenses were allowed to be more physical. 

As Brees continues to ascend the NFL's all-time yardage list, the only names ahead of him are Brett Favre (71,838) and Peyton Manning (71,940). 

If Brees is able to maintain his average numbers with the Saints, he will move past Favre and Manning early in the 2018 season. He is 37 years old and continues to perform at a high level, making that record a realistic goal as long as he stays healthy.