Even though the Atlanta Falcons thanked their worthy adversary in Drew Brees, they still let it be known that they won’t miss him.
On Sunday, the expected became a reality, as New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees announced his retirement from the NFL after 20 years. Brees will forever go down as one of the more prolific passers, and it mostly came against his divisional rivals in the NFC South.
After the announcement, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers congratulated Brees with a simple picture of the quarterback and Tom Brady. Speaking of Brady, he also sent out a tweet to wish Brees well in retirement. But no team went the extra mile more than the Atlanta Falcons.
Instead of a simple statement, the Falcons produced a video to thank Brees for being the “worthy adversary” that pushed them the extra mile. Even though they sent their congratulations to Brees, they wanted to make sure that he knew that they won’t miss him.
Falcons: Drew Brees always thrived against Atlanta in his 20-year career
When it comes to the Falcons not missing Brees, the stats really do not lie.
According to Pro Football Reference, Brees completed 68.4 percent of his passes for 8,695 yards, 54 touchdowns and 27 interceptions in 29 meetings. Out of those 29 contests, Brees won 19 of them.
Interestingly enough, Brees did not take the field against the Falcons in 2020 due to suffering multiple rib fractures and a punctured lung during New Orleans’ Week 10 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. Instead, the Falcons dropped both meetings in 2020 with Taysom Hill starting under center.
While the Falcons did surrender the most passing yards to Brees among the NFC South tams, the Buccaneers actually hold the distinction of allowing the most passing touchdowns (61), highest completion percentage (68.8 percent) and most head-to-head wins (20).
The Falcons decided to go all out with their tribute to Brees, but they certainly won’t miss him making game days hell twice a year. Now, they set their focus on facing Hill twice a year. It is safe to say that he won’t put up the same debilitating numbers against Atlanta like Brees did.