Brees breaks NFL passing record in win

Drew Brees celebrates the moment when he became the NFL’s all-time leading passer

Drew Brees became the NFL’s all-time leading passer, breaking Peyton Manning’s record, as the New Orleans Saints earned a 43-19 blowout win over the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football.

Brees eclipsed Manning’s previous record of 71,940 yards, doing so in style with a 62-yard touchdown pass to rookie Tre’Quan Smith in the second quarter, one of three passing TDs on the night for the quarterback.

Brees came into the game needing 201 passing yards to pass Brett Favre (71,838) and Manning ahead of him on the all-time leading passer’s list, eclipsing the mark by half-time on his way to a 363-yard game, completing 26 of his 29 passes.

After the record-breaking moment, officials stopped the game and the game ball was handed over to Pro Football Hall of Fame officials on the sideline as the home Superdome crowd offered a standing ovation to their hero.

Brees threw a second touchdown to Smith in the third quarter, and an earlier one to tight end Josh Hill, to also move up to 499 touchdown passes for his career, one shy of joining Manning (539), Brett Favre (508) and Tom Brady – who notched his 500th on Thursday night – in the 500 club.

Another positive for New Orleans on the night was the return to action of runner Mark Ingram after serving a four-game suspension, and he got the team off to a flying start with a touchdown on their opening drive, one of two scores on the night for the lead back.

Any hope Washington had of coming back was all but snuffed out when Justin Hardee – a special teams regular who was in the game because of starting cornerback Marshon Lattimore’s concussion symptoms – intercepted Alex Smith in the third quarter, setting up a Taysom Hill touchdown run.

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FIRST QUARTER

Redskins 0-6 Saints: Mark Ingram two-yard touchdown run (Will Lutz extra point fails)

Redskins 3-6 Saints: Dustin Hopkins 37-yard field goal

SECOND QUARTER

Redskins 6-13 Saints: Drew Brees one-yard touchdown pass to Josh Hill (Lutz extra point good)

Redskins 6-13 Saints: Hopkins 53-yard field goal

Redskins 6-20 Saints: Ingram one-yard touchdown run (Lutz extra point good)

Redskins 6-26 Saints: Brees 62-yard touchdown pass to Tre’Quan Smith (Taysom Hill two-point conversion fails)

Redskins 13-26 Saints: Alex Smith four-yard touchdown run (Hopkins extra point good)

THIRD QUARTER

Redskins 13-33 Saints: Brees 35-yard touchdown pass to Smith (Lutz extra point good)

Redskins 13-40 Saints: Taysom Hill one-yard touchdown run (Lutz extra point good)

FOURTH QUARTER

Redskins 13-43 Saints: Lutz 44-yard field goal

Redskins 19-43 Saints: Kapri Bibbs one-yard touchdown run (Smith-Chris Thompson two-point conversion fails)