Greg Schiano: You’re Not Gonna Stop Drew Brees

The Saints come to town Sunday, well rested off their bye week and their leader is quarterback Drew Brees, who passed Johnny Unitas two weeks ago and put his name into the NFL record books for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass.

Brees’ number is 48 and counting and it’s a safe bet that he can make it 49 against the Bucs.

“You’re not gonna stop Drew Brees,” coach Greg Schiano said Wednesday without hesitation. “You need to do what you can do to slow him down.”

Even thought the Saints are 1-4, there hasn’t been much slowing of Brees this season. The Saints are fourth in the league in total offense (402 yards per game) and they’re first in passing yards with 326.8 per game. With those number, you’d expect they’d be higher in overall scoring but with 28.2 points per game, they’re 14th and not that far ahead of the Bucs, who come in 19th with 24 per game.

Even though Brees is the ultimate passing threat, Schiano said it’s still very important that the Buc defense keep the Saints from running.

“You have to stop the run, if you don’t, they get you coming and going,” Schiano added.

When you consider that the Saints have Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles and former Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram to run the ball, that’s a tall order.