New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees passed Peyton Manning to become the NFL’s career leader in touchdown passes on Monday night.
Brees’ 5-yard touchdown pass to Josh Hill with 7:08 left in the third quarter against Indianapolis — Brees’ third scoring strike of the game — was the 540th of his career, surpassing Manning. The touchdown was also Brees’ 20th straight completion in the game, a franchise record and personal best.
Then with 35 seconds left in the third quarter, on his next pass, Brees hit Taysom Hill for a 28-yard scoring pass for No. 541 and his fourth of the night. That connection left Brees 28 of 29 on his passes Monday, matching the highest single-game completion rate in NFL history, 96.55 percent. The Los Angeles Chargers’ Philip Rivers set that mark when he went 28 of 29 on Nov. 25, 2018.
When he hit on a pass to Michael Thomas for a 2-yard loss early in the third quarter, Brees moved to 29 of 30, 96.66 percent.
With 6:11 left in the second quarter, Brees had hit Tre’Quan Smith for a 21-yard touchdown pass to tie Manning at 539.
Brees, 40, entered Monday night’s home game against Indianapolis third on the all-time list. Brees’ 15-yard touchdown pass to Thomas with 12:37 left in the second tied him with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for second.
Brady tweeted after Brees’ third scoring pass of the night, “Congrats drew!! Couldn’t be more deserving. Passing Peyton in anything is an incredible achievement and your records will be tough to beat! But it’s worth trying (winking face emjoi)”
Brees is in his 19th season in the NFL, his 14th with the Saints after playing the first five years of his career in with the then-San Diego Chargers.
Brees also holds the NFL career records for career passing yards, completions, passing yards per game and completion percentage (minimum 1,500 attempts).