Who dat gonna beat Drew Brees?

Brees-ing his way to history

Geaux N'Awlins Saints, Go! MVP candidate Drew Brees led the gold and black to a convincing 45-16 win over the archrival Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football yesterday. In the process, he set the all-time single-season record for passing yards, trumping Dan Marino's previous mark of 5,084 aerial yards with the Miami Dolphins in 1984.

The victory over Atlanta clinched the NFC South title for New Orleans. What a night to be a Saints fan, a fan of Brees or just a football fan in general. No. 9 will surely be considered for the Hall of Fame when he decides to hang 'em up.

I am extremely jealous that fellow KFFLian Ryan Bonini was in attendance for this monumental occasion.

With 16 weeks in the books, Brees sits at 5,087 yards. He'll have an opportunity to put even more distance between himself and Mr. Marino in Week 17 against the Carolina Panthers. The 32-year-old vet has failed to throw under 4,000 yards in any of his six seasons with the Saints. He has topped 5,000 yards twice, including this year.

The only questions now are who can come close to stopping Brees and their high-flying offense? And does Brees have a legitimate shot at winning the MVP over Aaron Rodgers?

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No question about it, the Saints will be tough to bring down in the playoffs this year. They are clicking on all cylinders, and the defense has stepped up lately. Brees can't be stopped; you can only hope to contain him… With so many weapons on offense - Jimmy Graham, Marques Colston, Lance Moore, Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, Robert Meachem and a healthy Mark Ingram (foot) - opposing defenses have to pick their poison wisely.

Not even the best of D's has enough playmakers to completely slow down this versatile attack. However, it can be done. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and St. Louis Rams were able to achieve success, surely any of the NFC's playoff-bound squads can get it done.

The Saints are almost impossible to beat at home; they are a perfect 7-0 this year with the home crowd on their side and have outscored opponents 284-126. The road to Indianapolis will go through Green Bay or, most likely, San Francisco, forcing New Orleans to the road if they advance to the Divisional Round. I like the Saints' chances against anyone in the playoffs, but that could pose some problems, especially against a stout 49er defense.

Despite the fact that the Green Bay Packers made a good run at perfection this year, the way I see it, New Orleans is the most complete team in the NFL right now, with San Francisco a close second. The Pack have suffered too many crucial injuries to their offensive line and have a very suspect running game.

A-Rod as good as it gets

Those things will be exposed in postseason play. Rodgers will be put to the test as the consensus lock for the MVP award, which by good measure isn't that much of a lock anymore thanks to Brees' monumental resurgence and record-setting campaign.

A-Rod has pretty much been the hands-down favorite for the MVP, up until Brees hurled five TD passes in Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings. Rodgers has 45 TDs, six INTs, 4,643 yards and a passer rating of 122.5. In comparison, Brees has 41 TDs, 13 INTs, 5,087 yards and a passer rating of 108.4. Neck and neck if you ask me.

Both QBs are playing at elite levels and similar to what we saw with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in their prime. I still give the nod to Rodgers based on the lack of running game in Green Bay; he's had to shoulder the load of the offense more than Brees has, in my opinion.

If anything, this would be the year where I'd be fine with a co-MVP, so these too gunslingers could share in the glory. Doubt that will happen, but with the race heating up, this could be decided by who performs better in the playoffs.

It should be a good one. Thanks to No. 12 and 9 for putting on a clinic all year long. It's been a pleasure to watch. On to the postseason!