Drew Brees became the fifth quarterback in NFL history to reach 400 touchdown passes when he threw an 80-yard pass to C.J. Spiller on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. It was his second touchdown pass of the game, and it beat the Cowboys, 26-20, in overtime.
At first, it appeared that Brees wouldn't be reaching No. 400 in Week 4. All the Saints needed to do was make a 30-yard field goal with 16 seconds remaining in regulation and they likely would have earned their first win of the season. Kicker Zach Hocker hit the left upright, however, and Sunday night's game went into overtime.
Then Brees and Spiller did the rest. Brees hit Spiller in stride down the right sideline roughly 20 yards downfield, then Spiller used his speed to outrun the Cowboys' defense all the way to the end zone.
Funny enough, as prolific as Brees has been throughout his career he was still able to accomplish a first.
Drew Brees: 400th career TD pass was also his 1st career TD pass in OT.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 5, 2015
With the score, Brees joins Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Dan Marino and Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks to throw 400 touchdowns. Brees reached 400 touchdown passes in 205 games, which is the shortest amount of time for any of the five quarterbacks to reach the mark, while Manning was second-fastest with 209 games.
He now needs 21 more touchdowns this season to pass Marino for third on the all-time leaderboard, although he'd need to eclipse 500 before he could catch Favre or Manning. Brees entered the season ahead of Brady, but with nine touchdowns in the first three games of the year for the New England Patriots passer coupled with a shoulder injury for Brees, Brady reached 400 touchdowns first and sits at 401 for his career while on a bye in Week 4.
A second-round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft, Brees played five seasons with the San Diego Chargers before joining the Saints in free agency. Brees threw 80 touchdowns in four season with the Chargers, but he really picked up steam with the Saints, starting a streak of seven straight seasons with 33 or more touchdowns in 2008.
Brees is also fourth on the all-time passing yardage list and needs to finish the 2015 season with 3,967 yards to reach 60,000 for his career.