SI

Drew Brees throws two interceptions, ties postseason high in uneven first half

Drew Brees had a rough first half against the Eagles. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) Coming into Saturday night's wild-card matchup against the Philadelphia
Doug Farrar|
Drew Brees throws two interceptions, ties postseason high in uneven first half
Drew Brees throws two interceptions, ties postseason high in uneven first half

Drew Brees had a rough first half against the Eagles. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Coming into Saturday night's wild-card matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees had thrown 392 passes in nine postseason games with the Saints and the San Diego Chargers before that. And in those 392 passes, Brees had thrown just four interceptions to 22 touchdowns. Three of those picks came on the road -- one against the Chicago Bears in the 2006 playoffs, and two against the San Francisco 49ers in the 2011 postseason.

In the first half of the Saints-Eagles game, Brees threw 18 passes, and matched his single-game postseason pick total with two. The first came with five minutes left in the first quarter, when Brees tried to hit rookie receiver Kenny Stills on a deep sideline route even though Eagles cornerback Bradley Fletcher had established inside position. Stills tried to undercut the route, but Brees threw where Stills was supposed to be, and where Fletcher actually was.

The second pick came with just over four minutes left in the first half, when Brees tried to squeeze one in to Lance Moore, but veteran linebacker DeMeco Ryans was on the job.

The Saints dodged another bullet when tight end Jimmy Graham was thought to have fumbled with 9:02 left in the first half. Upon review, referee Bill Vinovich overturned the call, saying that Graham was down.

(GIFs courtesy of Bleacher Report)

Nick Foles

Published
Doug Farrar
DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009,  Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine.  He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.

Home/NFL