re: Can we stop ignoring that Brees is declining rapidly?

the deep pass to Ginn that fell short was brutal.

Father Time has an impeccable track record although some of his throws today were just bad decisions.

we're lucky it wasn't a turnover fest that led to a blowout.

he delivered last week after taking hits all game but today he was clearly off.

His arm isn't as good as it used to be, that's the truth.

But some of those deep passes don't seem like declining arm but a qb and wr still not on the same page. Ginn looked like he didn't know where the ball was supposed to be.

Either way, the games vs good back 7s tell you that we need another receiver. Ramcyzk is awesome and we have him cheap for 5 years but we need another wr who can get separation. I felt like I was watching '13 Seahawks vs us this afternoon.

He is not the same QB anymore. The throws longer downfield can come in spurts but he is nowhere as near as automatic as he once was with those throws. Brees is still better than most NFL QBs but he is not super elite like he has been for so long. Next season is the season where you have to fear his arm strength falling off the cliff. Right now he reminds me of Peyton Manning in 2014.

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meh OL

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Lolwut? The Saints offensive line is top 5 in the league. Have you folks ever stopped to wonder to think that Brees is getting blitzed more because teams don't fear him beating them deep anymore.

At one time blitzing Brees was an invitation for a big pass play. Brees was the top QB vs the blitz in the NFL for a long time because there is no defense for a perfect throw and no QB was more accurate downfield. Now he struggles vs the blitz. Read the writing on the wall people. Someone will throw out some PFF stats on deep balls but anyone watching close enough can see Drew is not the same QB.

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At the moment it's Brady and Wentz, and no one else.

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Throw in Russell Wilson (his play behind a terrible line without a running game has been outstanding this year) & a healthy Aaron Rodgers & I agree. I get you say at the moment & Rodgers maybe out for the season but when on the field, he is elite.

Um, he's still the league leader in completion percentage by a wide margin.

He doesn't have to carry the team by himself now that he has a two-headed monster at RB and a competent defense that frees him from having to play catch-up.

No one is saying Brees can't still complete short to intermediate passes. It's the deeper throws he is having problems with. He also can't make free rushers miss like he once did either.

When you can't make teams defend the entire field, it becomes a problem because they begin to take away the underneath passes. When your QB can't evade pressure & make teams pay for blitzing, they will keep doing it. Why is this so hard for some fans to grasp?

As good as our run blocking has been, our pass blocking has been really really sub par. Brees hasn’t been comfutable all year on 3-5 step drops.

He can make poor throws, even if they are under thrown; it doesn’t mean his arm strength is bad. I’ve seen too many great throws this year. You guys are going to have to go further than the surface. Stop being lazy K?

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just the straight up decision making today was awful. Lack of mustard on the ball or not. 

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Since I signed up here, I noticed you are a pretty smart poster. When a player loses a step or in Brees' case some, some arm strength, they think about it. They start second guessing themselves. It is obvious like you said on some throws but you don't even have a chance to see it on others because Brees is simply holding the ball & not pulling the trigger on certain plays. Brees also used to be excellent at alluding would be defenders in the pocket, I don't see that as much as did before. Plays where he managed to get away & make throws downfield on, he is getting blasted while those throws are now turning into incompletions. It's not just arm strength here but mobility as well.

Dude he threw the ball in the air a few weeks ago 58 yards without even crow hopping

The were both poor throws because of the coverage. Esp the one in the middle of the field. The throw on the sideline was open but was a weird angle from the outside hash & the defender was sort of in between