Drew Brees takes aim at more records against Baltimore Ravens and other talking points in Week 7

Jay Asser 00:05 21/10/2018
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  • Drew Brees isn’t done making history just yet.

    One game after setting the NFL’s new record for most career passing yards, the New Orleans Saints quarterback will take aim at two more milestones on Sunday.

    One is inevitable. The other may not come around again.

    Brees needs just one more touchdown throw to reach 500 for his career, which would put him in a club currently occupied by Peyton Manning (539), Brett Favre (508) and Tom Brady (501).

    If he beats the Baltimore Ravens, he’ll join Manning and Favre as the only quarterbacks in league history to defeat all 32 teams.

    With the way Brees is playing – he leads the league in completion percentage at 77.9 and passer rating at 122.3 thanks to a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 11-0 – the records and a victory appear well within his grasp.

    Baltimore, however, present the toughest challenge yet for New Orleans as they bring the league’s top-ranked defence into the match-up.

    The Ravens are allowing just 12.8 points per game and rank number one in several categories against the pass: completion percentage at 55.6, yards per attempt at 6.0, passer rating at 73.1 and sacks with 26.

    After sacking Marcus Mariota 11 times last week, Baltimore’s pass rush will set their sights on Brees, but New Orleans’ offensive line has given up just eight sacks all season – tied for the second-fewest in the league.

    Brees is one of the best at getting the ball out quick and will also have his two running backs, Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara, to lean on.

    Here are more talking points in Week 7.

    ANOTHER SUNDAY NIGHT SHOOTOUT?

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    The Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots put on a show last week in primetime with their 43-40 shootout, and there’s a chance the clash between the Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night could be a worthy encore.

    Cincinnati don’t have Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, but they have their own collection of dangerous skill players around Andy Dalton that should give Kansas City’s defence trouble.

    The Bengals are averaging 29.9 points, but they’re also surrendering 409.2 yards and 26.3 points per game, which means there should be no shortage of points once again in a game the Chiefs are involved in.

    Kansas City will hope to fix their recent red zone issues, which has resulted in 10 touchdowns to nine field goals in the last three games – a drop-off from the blistering pace Patrick Mahomes and the offence were on early in the season.

    “We’ve stalled on getting it in the end zone. I take responsibility for that,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We want to score touchdowns. I love (Harrison) Butker, but I’d rather score touchdowns.”

    RAMS KEEP CHARGING

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    It will take a substantial upset to knock off the only remaining undefeated team in the league this week.

    The San Francisco 49ers get the unenviable task of slowing down a red-hot Los Angeles Rams team that features the top-ranked offence and a playmaker in Todd Gurley who is coming off a 200-yard rushing performance.

    At the start of the season, the match-up had the potential to be a fight over the division crown. However, after Jimmy Garoppolo went down with a season-ending injury in Week 3, the 49ers have lacked the same bite on offence with back-up quarterback C.J. Beathard, who is 1-7 as a starter.

    San Francisco’s defence will have one less weapon to worry about with wide receiver Cooper Kupp out to a knee injury, but quarterback Jared Goff still has Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods to work with – the latter of which has totaled at least 92 receiving yards each of the past four contests.

    Considering the Rams’ form and opponent this week, there’s little reason to think they’ll suffer their first loss on Sunday.

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