Vintage Drew Brees Performance Reminds Us Whose Team the Saints Are

At a certain point, it just got ridiculous.

Drew Brees was on fire.

Three-alarm, five-alarm fire. Nuclear-fission hot.

We've seen Brees get like this before. We know he can torch a defense. But we also heard how this season was about Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara. Brees was supposedly taking a secondary role to his two Pro Bowl backs. And to an improved defense.

The Saints only rushed for 41 yards against the Panthers in their wild-card matchup Sunday, so in the end, it all came down to Brees. For the Saints, it always does.

That was the biggest takeaway in their 31-26 win over Carolina.

When Brees gets like this, the Saints are impossible to beat. When he throws with this kind of accuracy, it doesn't matter if he's playing against the '85 Bears.

Sunday's game was close. Damn close. Cam Newton and the Panthers fought hard and brilliantly. But Brees was that much better.

At one point, Brees completed nine straight passes. It wasn't just the number; it was how he was completing them. Tight windows on short passes, longer passes, medium passes. Carolina defenders were in the face of receivers, but still—thwoop—the ball would get there. No matter how tight the coverage, the football got there.

It was remarkable to see, especially after watching the quarterback play in the Buffalo-Jacksonville game earlier Sunday, when Blake Bortles looked like he was throwing the ball with two fingers.

Newton and the Panthers made it interesting, largely because he is a staggering talent. As he always does, Newton kept fighting despite enduring numerous vicious shots, including one to the head. Yes, Newton was always going to make this a game, but few could have beaten Brees on Sunday.

As the Panthers closed in, Brees did his damage again. He rolled right and threw a deep pass to a wide-open Michael Thomas, who got wide open because Brees caught the Panthers flat-footed with his rollout. The Saints scored several plays later, and it was 31-19.

One minute later, Newton would strike again with a pass to Christian McCaffrey for a 56-yard score. Again, his guts were impressive. They always are. He and the Panthers made this one of hell of a brawl.

But guts and talent weren't enough to beat Brees.

Butch Dill/Associated Press

After the Panthers scored, Brees threw a back-shoulder pass to a perfectly covered Thomas, putting the ball in a spot where only he could get it.

It was yet another great playoff game for Brees. He wasn't perfect—a late interception was a notable blemish—but he finished 23-of-33 for 376 yards and two scores. As NFL senior director of football communications Randall Liu noted, the performance put Brees in exclusive historical company:

It's time for Brees to get the praise he deserves. Though he's recognized as a Hall of Fame quarterback, he sometimes gets lost in the haze of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and, before that, Peyton Manning.

He's in that class, but he isn't always recognized as one of the all-time greats—at least, not as much as he should be.

In the meantime, Brees keeps plugging away and prospering, despite having a constantly rotating offensive staff. He loses Darren Sproles. He loses Marques Colston. He loses Brandin Cooks. He loses Jimmy Graham. And yet here he is, beating Newton and Carolina, advancing to the divisional round.

Many things make the Saints scary. They didn't run the ball as well Sunday as they did throughout the regular season, but that running game is still potent. They have an improved defense. The Saints also have solid receiving options, and they have the best play-caller in football today in Sean Payton.

Mostly, though, the Saints have Brees. Through all the machinations and different backs and schemes and plays, it comes down to him.

As long as he's the quarterback of the Saints, it always will.

Mike Freeman covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @mikefreemanNFL.