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Brees, who entered the game one touchdown pass
behind New England's Tom Brady and two behind former Colts and
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, threw four scoring
passes. He broke Manning's record of 539 on a 5-yard pass to
tight end Josh Hill on the first possession of the third
quarter.
He appeared to have broken the record just before halftime, but
his 5-yard pass to Tre'Quan Smith was negated by a pass
interference penalty on Smith.
Brees, who surpassed Manning's record for career passing yards
last season, completed 29 of 30 passes (96.7 percent) breaking
the record of 96.6 percent (28 of 29) set by the Los Angeles
Chargers' Philip Rivers against the Arizona Cardinals last
season.
Brees passed for 307 yards and also threw touchdown passes to
Michael Thomas, Smith and Taysom Hill. Thomas, the NFL's leader
in receptions and receiving yards, had 12 catches for 128 yards.
Though it was Brees' night, the New Orleans defense made a
statement a week after giving up 516 yards in a 48-46 loss to
the San Francisco 49ers by holding Indianapolis to 205 yards and
having a shutout until Jordan Wilkins ran 1 yard for a score
with 3:56 left.
The NFC South champion Saints (11-3) stayed in contention for a
first-round playoff bye.
The Colts, 6-8 after losing for the sixth time in seven games,
were eliminated from playoff contention.
Brees drove the Saints to Wil Lutz's 33-yard field goal on their
first possession, then threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Thomas
for a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.
After Brees' 21-yard scoring pass to Smith, Lutz kicked a
26-yard field goal as time expired to give New Orleans a 20-0
halftime lead.
After throwing the record-setter, Brees added a 28-yard
touchdown to Taysom Hill to give the Saints a 34-0 lead after
three quarters.
The Saints honored the 10th anniversary of their 31-17 victory
over the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.
--Field Level Media
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