Sad trombone: New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees piles up yards, records – just not TDs

METAIRIE, La. -- It didn't really have much meaning because it came in a losing effort, but New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees went over the 4,000-yard mark in passing for an NFL-record 11th consecutive season Sunday against the Bucs.

Brees, whose streak started when he signed with the Saints in 2006 following five seasons with the San Diego Chargers, needed just 87 yards to reach 4,000 yards once again.

Even though the mark easily fell with 257 passing yards, it wasn't one of his best days as Brees failed to throw a touchdown pass for the second game in a row and served up three interceptions in back-to-back outings for the first time in his 16-year career.

With 4,170 yards through 13 games, Brees is on pace to throw for 5,132 yards. If he does, it would be the fourth 5,000-yard season of his career; no other quarterback in NFL history has more than one.

--While Brees is steaming toward another 5,000-yard season just one month removed from his 38th birthday, he's suffering through his second-longest touchdown drought of his 11-year career with the Saints.

Brees has gone nine quarters-plus without a scoring strike with the last one being a 21-yarder to Michael Thomas with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter of a 49-21 rout of the Los Angeles Rams on Nov. 27.

When Brees was shut out by the Detroit Lions and the Bucs the past two weeks, it pushed the total clock time since his last one to 138 minutes, 42 seconds.

His longest drought with the Saints came in 2009 when he went 161:28 without a TD pass. That spanned two full games with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets blanking him, while the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants also were involved.

Brees also had a drought of 138:22 in 2007 when the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers kept him out of the end zone. The Bucs and Seattle Seahawks also were in on it.

During his weekly availability after Wednesday's practice, Brees acknowledged he made "a couple of poor decisions" against Tampa Bay.

"And, a couple 'man-did-that-really-happen?' kind of deals," he said. "The good thing is I can make those corrections. I've done it before many times, and I feel confident I can get back on track."