Brees will break the record tonight and clinch the division while he is at it.
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Brees will break the record tonight and clinch the division while he is at it.
This morning I was apathetic about the game - figured it'd be a good one to watch, but with no impact on the AFC, don't really care who wins the division, and no fantasy implications for me, I wasn't thrilled about it. Once I realized that the record will likely fall tonight, I can't wait. I love watching history.
I still remember the Sunday night Ravens/Steelers finale when Lewis was going for 2k and the single-season record. How ESPN had the little counter at the bottom of the screen, and it would get closer and closer with every run. As much as I wanted the Steelers to win, a part of me kept rooting for Lewis to just break one and make history. I'll be doing the same thing tonight.
I am not necessarily too keen on this record being broken. I understand that rules changes are a part of any sport, but.....I don't know, it just doesn't get me excited. I would like to see New Orleans win, but those are for selfish reasons.
I kind of expect a yawner like last night; hope I'm wrong. And the record is a big deal but likely wouldn't have even come close without the constant rule changes so it has to have an *
Meh. :ref:
Just like Roger Maris got the asterisk for 61 homers, Brees should get an asterisk for the juiced up passing rules.
btw: while I am handing out asterisks, the Landover team should get them for strike year Super Bowl wins, and the Steelers should get one for their tainted win over Seattle.
Look at the rule changes in 1978 (specifically the Mel Blount rule, while eliminated contact after 5 yards, and really juiced up the passing game). Wanna know who the leading passer was in 1977? Joe Ferguson, with 2,803 yards. NO ONE went over 3,000 yards. Starting in 78, numbers rose, and have been rising ever since. I realize that after 77, two more games were also added to the schedule, but the rule changes had even more to do with numbers going up.
Hell, the single season record was set 3 different times in the early 80s, before Marino set the bar so high. So six years after no one was even breaking 3,000 yards, Marino went over 5,000. You don't think people screamed bloody murder about asterisks then, too?
Do we still hold an asterisk to Marino because of that? No. So why do it to Brees? Yes, the rule changes have helped him, but he can tell you how hard that record still is, since he came up just short of it a couple years ago. It's not like he's smashing it to pieces, or it's a lesser QB breaking it...then I could say yeah, it doesn't mean that much. But as it stands, it's taken one of the best QBs of the era two seasons of excellent football to finally break it, and he's still just barely going to eclipse it, by a couple hundred yards at best.
Having this record stand for so long with these new rules shows just how ridiculous it was in the first place.
I mean 5,084 yards back in 1984 is probably like 6,000 in todays NFL. And that probably isn't an exaggeration. Maybe if I get bored tonight I could do the math to get an exact number.
It is like interceptions from then and now. The QB's are so much better now an INT today is worth a little more than 2 from back in the day.
If only the Ravens had one of these QBs...and I'm glad Julio Jones isn't in the AFCN.
230 yards in the first half. 75 yards to go.
Man he looks like a machine. He's on another level