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47 and Counting: Brees Can Pass Unitas on Sunday Night
NFL 2012 Football
On Sunday night in New Orleans, Saints quarterback Drew Brees can make NFL history.
With a touchdown pass against the San Diego Chargers, his former team, Brees will surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas (47 games) for the most consecutive games with a touchdown pass with a streak of 48 games in a row.
Comparable to JOE DI MAGGIO's 56-game hitting streak, Unitas threw a touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games from December 9, 1956 to December 4, 1960 for the Baltimore Colts. Unitas surpassed the previous mark held by CECIL ISBELL (22 games) on November 30, 1958 and held sole possession of the record for 19,663 days before Brees tied the mark last Sunday with a three-touchdown performance at Green Bay.
Brees has thrown 114 touchdowns during his streak, 12 more than Unitas (102) did during his run. However, Unitas averaged 25.5 yards per touchdown pass while Brees has averaged 18.0 yards per TD. A look at each quarterback's numbers during their 47-game streaks:
| Player | Att | Comp | Yards | TDs | INTs | Rating | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source: NFL | |||||||
| Unitas | 1,298 | 697 | 10,645 | 102 | 61 | 87.6 | 31-16 |
| Brees | 1,891 | 1,302 | 14,803 | 114 | 50 | 101.2 | 33-14 |
During their streaks, Unitas threw a TD pass to seven different players while Brees has connected with 15 players.
Among Unitas' seven recipients were two Pro Football Hall of Famers (RAYMOND BERRY and LENNY MOORE) and a current NFL owner (Carolina's JERRY RICHARDSON). Three players caught at least 25 touchdown passes from Unitas during his streak: Berry (38), Moore (27) and JIM MUTSCHELLER (25).
Fifteen different players have caught a touchdown pass from Brees during his streak, led by wide receivers MARQUES COLSTON (22) and LANCE MOORE (20). Tight end JIMMY GRAHAM (19) and former Saints -- and current Chargers -- wide receiver ROBERT MEACHEM (19) have also caught at least 10 touchdowns from Brees during the streak.
Drew Brees stands to break a NFL record held by Johnny Unitas for 52 years
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