Part of the reason I feel good about the Saints winning this game tomorrow is just how much Drew Brees has owned his old team. You hear from players all the time when they play their old teams that it’s “just another game”. But I don’t buy that here and Brees has flat out admitted this has added importance to him personally. The Chargers drafted Philip Rivers to replace Brees and Brees groomed Rivers for two seasons under his tutelage to prepare him to take the reigns. Rivers remains the Chargers’ trigger man and that has added incentive for Brees to stick it to the team that passed up on an opportunity to keep him.
Think this isn’t personal? Here’s a couple quotes from the man himself:
“There’s no doubt it wasn’t coincidence.”
“I don’t make the schedule, but it sure is a funny coincidence, isn’t it.”
The irony of Brees setting this record against the team that let him go certainly isn’t lost on him. And record or no record, Brees has been flawless in his lone performance against his old team. His stats in that London game was as follows:
10/26/08: 37-32 Saints win, 30-41, 339 yds, 3 TDs, 0 Ints
The record makes for a nice story line but Brees has added motivation coming from so many different angles that I’d be shocked if we saw nothing but the very best from him on Sunday.
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