Drew Brees eclipsed Dan Marino’s 5084 yard single season passing record with 5476 yards. Brees almost broke the record a couple seasons ago. It helps that the Saints have a strong running game…exit Reggie Bush, enter Darren Sproles, and a fantastic receiving corps. Opponents genuinely have to worry about the Saints scoring 40 or more points every single game. Just ask the Colts, who gave up a season high 62 points to New Orleans. You would never know that Brees had shoulder surgery a few years ago because he still has plenty of velocity and is extremely accurate, completing 71.2 % of passes.

Tom Brady was second in passing with 5235 yards, followed by Matthew Stafford with 5038 yards. Both of these quarterbacks had great receiving corps who made their jobs much easier.

Peyton’s baby brother Eli raised a few eyebrows and became a featured topic this year when he declared that he is an elite NFL quarterback. As the season progressed, Manning was the architect of five come from behind 4th quarter Big Blue wins. With that, Manning was definitely considered a Top 10, if not Top 5 NFL quarterback. The younger Manning came close to eclipsing 5,000 passing yards this season as well with 4,933 passing yards.

Aaron Rodgers also had a fantastic passing year. There are many cases where a team slumps after winning a Super Bowl, but the Packers are working like a well-oiled machine. Joining Rodgers with 4,000+ passing yards were Tony Romo, Matt Ryan, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, and Ben Roethlisberger.

With all these now prolific passers in the league, it makes me wonder why there is so much offense and so little defense. Is it because rules about hitting the quarterback or wide receivers are so stringent? Are the defensive coordinators not as aggressive? Or could it be that those who play in the defensive secondary aren’t very talented? My guess is it’s a combination of all three, although my first thought goes directly to the talent on the field. While I like to see touchdowns scored like anyone else, I really do want to see some kind of defensive effort. Make it a game already. The only time I want to see a one-sided score is when the Cowboys are playing and winning. Especially after this past season, I can’t take many more down to the wire games involving Dallas. But for the rest of the NFL teams, competition is key in my book.

With that said, we’ve seen great offensive feats these past two playoff weekends. Out of the quarterbacks listed above, only Manning and Brady are still in the hunt for a Super Bowl. Can you say…Rematch?!