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72,103 & Counting

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

With Drew Brees 201 passing yards away from history, Saints fans packed the Superdome knowing that Monday night would be one of the most memorable in franchise history.

The Saints legendary signal caller wouldn’t disappoint in the Bayou.

The New Orleans Saints dominated the Washington Redskins in a 43-19 win on Monday night at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome as Drew Brees made history on a special night.

Drew Brees would break Peyton Manning’s all-time passing yards record of 71,940 vs the Washington Redskins, becoming the NFL’s all-time leading passer.

The memorable completion to break the record would occur at the 2:46 mark of the second quarter as Brees found Tre’Quan Smith for a 62-yard completion

The New Orleans Saints would stop the game for a few minutes to acknowledge Drew Brees’ monumental feat and allow the franchise’s greatest player to live in the moment as well.

Brees — with his helmet removed — would take the football to the sidelines saluting and thanking the screaming sellout Superdome crowd who chanted “Drew!!!” in unison.

Brees would hand the football to Hall of Fame President David Baker, who was on the Saints sidelines for the game. He would briefly celebrate the moment with his wife and four children before the game would be resumed.

Mic’d up for the moment by ESPN’s broadcast during ‘Monday Night Football’, Brees told his head coach Sean Payton, ‘Let’s go win the game!!!’

A symbolic message for Brees and his team that there was still work to be done vs the Washington Redskins on the night.

New Orleans looking to win their fourth consecutive game, jumped out to a 6-0 lead vs the Washington Redskins.

Mark Ingram — playing in his first game of the season after a four-game suspension — would provide the Saints with a welcoming sign as he had a 28-yard reception before scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run on New Orleans’ first drive of the game.

The Redskins would answer the Saints quick start with a long drive, but the drive would end in frustration as they would be forced to settle for a 37-yard field goal by kicker Dustin Hopkins after Alex Smith was sacked on third and goal.

The Washington Redskins defense would hurt themselves with critical penalties on 3rd down in the first half that resulted in first downs for New Orleans.

One of those third down penalties included a boneheaded unnecessary roughness penalty on Montae Nicholson after Ryan Kerrigan had recorded a sack on 3rd and 8 early in the second quarter.

That penalty would keep alive New Orleans’ second scoring drive as the Saints took a 13-3 lead on Drew Brees’ 1-yard touchdown pass to tight-end Josh Hill.

It would be a lights out beginning to the game for Drew Brees, who quickly closed in on Peyton Manning’s yardage mark with a efficient start.

After a beautiful 46-yard strike to wide receiver Cameron Meredith set up the Saints inside the Redskins 10-yard line, Mark Ingram would add a second rushing score to give New Orleans a 20-6 lead.

Brees’ record-setting completion to Tre’Quan Smith, a third round draft pick this past April, is one that Smith will remember for the rest of his life as the touchdown near the end of the half made it a 26-6 game.

The touchdown was the first of Smith’s career and just the third catch of the season for the 22-year-old rookie wide receiver out of the University of Central Florida.

He added another one to his breakout game with a 35-yard touchdown reception from Brees as that touchdown made it a 32-13 minutes into the third quarter, and the rout was on from there on out.

Drew Brees would finish the game 26-for-29 for 363 passing yards and 3 TDs.

The future Hall of Famer was selected in the second round with the 32nd pick in the 2001 NFL Draft out of Purdue University by the San Diego Chargers.

Brees would sit out most of his rookie season before having an opportunity to start for four seasons in San Diego.

It was a up and down career for Brees in San Diego where he followed an underwhelming 11 TD to 15 INT season with a then career-best 27 TD season where he only threw 7 INTs during the 2004 season.

That may have been Brees — the ultimate gamer — playing with a chip on his shoulder as the Chargers drafted Eli Manning with the first pick in the 2004 before trading with the New York Giants for Philip Rivers.

Brees career in San Diego would end with a career-threatening shoulder injury to right arm in December 31st, 2005 vs the Denver Broncos as safety John Lynch drilled him in the second quarter of that game as he was releasing the ball.

He was thought to be a short-term solution for a rebuilding Saints team back in 2006 when they signed him as a free-agent.

Fast forward to now, Drew Brees is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play in NFL history and tonight was a culmination of his incredible consistency and durability.

Brees, 39, transformed himself as a passer under head coach Sean Payton’s offensive system. As time as has gone on he has seemingly gotten better with age as his understanding of defenses and his high football IQ has aged well.

On Monday night the Redskins had an opportunity to prove their defense was elite in a tough draw against the Saints in prime-time.

They failed miserably.

The Redskins (2-2) came in with the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense, but that defense would fail to slow down one of the NFL’s best offenses and their record-setting quarterback.

It’s an ugly loss coming off a bye week, but with the NFC East currently not having a winning team, Washington will have an opportunity to put this loss behind them.

For New Orleans, it’s four consecutive wins and a team that was a Super Bowl favorite is starting to look like one as the Saints defense is coming around after a rough start to the season.

New Orleans’ defense, flying all over the field, would limit Alex Smith and the Redskins offense to 283 total yards while forcing two turnovers.

The Redskins were limited to 39 rushing yards on 18 carries and a 4-for-13 conversion rate on third down.

The Saints will continue a tough stretch of games with their third road game in four games when they visit the Baltimore Ravens in two weeks at M&T Bank Stadium.

What are your thoughts on Drew Brees breaking the all-time passing yards mark? Leave your comments below!