Drew Brees: 9 Most Memorable Touchdown Throws of the Saints QB's Career
In honor of his uniform number, it seemed like a cool idea to make note of Drew Brees' nine most important or best touchdown throws in his wonderful NFL career.
Most have come as a member of the New Orleans Saints, though he did have several memorable throws as a member of the Chargers as well.
The idea is to create discussion not to necessarily make this an absolute list. So all you Drew Brees fans, have fun.
9. AFC Wildcard vs. Jets; Jan. 8, 2005
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Honestly, this is more of an honorary salute to Mr. Brees for his days in San Diego. Clearly, Drew meant a lot to San Diego and still does.
I was at this game versus the Jets, sitting in the rain, hoping the Chargers could pull it out. I honestly believe had Brees thrown one pass in OT, the final result would have been different.
But what Brees did to get the team into overtime was amazing. He led a comeback drive that ended with a touchdown in the final minute, in the rain.
My memory actually makes me think it was a Quarterback Draw that he scored on, but his statistics say it was a pass to Antonio Gates. And if you followed Brees in San Diego, who else could it have been?
8. Drew Brees' First Touchdown Pass as a Saint to Marques Colston Sept 10, 2006
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The Saints were struggling to score in the red zone in the debuts of Reggie Bush and Sean Payton. So they went to another Saints who was making his debut—seventh-round draft pick Marques Colston.
Colston caught a short slant stop route and turned it up the last couple yards through a Cleveland Browns tackle to notch Brees' first career touchdown pass a Saint.
The play would become eerily familiar to Saints fans over the next five years, as the two have hooked up for approximately 40 scores in that time.
7. Reggie Catch and Run on Sunday Night at Dallas in 2006
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Hard to believe I couldn't find a picture of this play, but Miles Austin is trying to make the tackle on Reggie in this picture.
Anyway, if you have watched the Saints at all the last five years, you've likely seen this play. It was the Saints go-to play for quite some time. It is a play where Drew Brees drops back and makes it look as if he's dropping back in a normal drop.
The running back—in this case Bush—flares out, catches the ball, then follows the tackle and guard down the sideline. This time Bush followed them 60 yards, dodging several Cowboys defenders for a nail-in-the-coffin touchdown versus Sean Payton's mentor, Bill Parcells.
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6. Another Long Reggie Catch & Run, This One vs the Bears in NFC Championship
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This is another of the plays that unless you've been stuck under a rock for years, you likely remember. Of course, that's the point of this list, so there you go.
On this play, Brees had a simple assignment—make sure the outside linebacker stayed home on the rub route, allowing Bush to roam free down the sideline on the wheel route.
At that point all he had to was get it to Bush. He did and Bush blazed his way to paydirt for an 86-yard touchdown pass. Unfortunately, that was the best of memories from that NFC Championship Game.
5. Season-Opening Six Touchdowns vs. Detroit, Sept 13, 2009
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Simply to begin a season with six touchdown passes is impressive, especially when they went to six different men. For me the most memorable among the bunch was the final one where Heath Evans took a short pass into the flat and scampered his way into the end zone.
This one gets such a high nod simply because of amazingness of throwing six TDs in one game.
4. Opening TD Throw to Jeremy Shockey vs. His Old Team, Oct. 18, 2009
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This was the first time Shockey had played against his former team, and Drew Brees made it a point to get the tight end involved early. On a goal-line play on the opening possession, Brees found Shockey wide open in the back of the end zone.
He found him again later in the game for a second touchdown. Both were sweet for the former Giant and for the Saints in routing the favored Giants.
3. Game Tying Touchdown in Final 2 Minutes to Robert Meachem vs. Redskins
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Robert Meachem made two huge plays in this game. The first was stripping a Redskin on a poor interception by Brees, then returning that strip for a touchdown.
But the Saints needed him again in the final two minutes. This time Brees hit him in stride on a deep post where Meachem simply ran by the Redskins last line of defense.
The score ultimately catapulted the Saints to a division-clinching victory.
2. Reggie Bush: Did He Score?
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This was by far the least fluid of the memorable touchdowns, as it took an instant replay to confirm. But it also took Brees sitting in the pocket for seemingly minutes to finally find Bush standing all alone at the sideline waiting for the ball.
When Bush finally got it, he had just enough moves, speed and power to get himself to the pylon. Upon replay, the officials determined the football crossed the pylon, and the Saints would miraculously win this game and head to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history.
1. Jeremy Shockey Quick Slant on the Goal-Line for the Go Ahead Score
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Of course, the swing screen touchdown to Pierre Thomas earlier in the game was terrifically memorable. But Shockey's effort on the quick slant was actually the go-ahead score.
It was really a simple play where the Saints knew they'd get a nice matchup for Shockey by placing him out wide. Brees saw the matchup he wanted and just got it to him immediately upon receiving the snap.
Lance Moore technically held on for the two-point conversion immediately after, and as a result, the Saints were able to party with the Lombardi for the first time in their long history.
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