Drew Brees Sets NFL All-Time Passing Touchdown Record vs. Colts

Drew Brees passes Peyton Manning on the NFL's all-time touchdown pass leader on Monday night against the Colts.

Drew Brees has broken countless records in his 19-year NFL career, but on Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts, he became the league's all-time passing touchdown leader, surpassing Peyton Manning. 

Brees entered the game with 537 touchdowns, two behind the former Colts great, but he found tight end Josh Hill for a five-yard score with 7:08 left in the third quarter for his third TD pass of the game to break the record.

Fans in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome thought Brees had broken the record with seven seconds to go in the first half, but Tre'Quan Smith was called for offensive pass interference on what would have been the receiver's second TD of the night.

Brees found both wide receivers Michael Thomas and Smith in the game's second period for the first two touchdowns of the game.

Brees has thrown a touchdown pass to 69 different receivers in regular-season games as a Charger and Saint. Nine players currently on New Orleans' roster have hauled in a TD from the future NFL Hall of Famer. 

Brees entered the weekend in second place in terms of all-time touchdowns thrown, but Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for a pair of TDs against the Bengals on Sunday, leapfrogging the Saints QB. It is still very possible that Brady claims the all-time record before the regular season ends in two weeks.

Congrats drew!! Couldn’t be more deserving. Passing Peyton in anything is an incredible achievement and your records will be tough to beat! But it’s worth trying 😉

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) December 17, 2019

Brees, Brady and Manning have all thrown for at least 30 more touchdowns all-time than Brett Farve, who is fourth on the list.

Among other active players, Brees's Chargers replacement, Philip Rivers, is currently sixth all-time, but Rivers is more than 130 touchdowns behind Brady and Brees. 

Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan have all also thrown for more than 300 TDs throughout their careers. 

Last October, Brees set another passing record on Monday Night Football, becoming the NFL's leader in career passing yards. Like this past Monday against the Colts, Brees entered last year's game against the Redskins third all-time in yards, but he exceeded both Farve and Manning's total just before halftime.

Brees finished the night 29-of-30—an NFL record in itself for best single-game completion percentage—for 307 yards and four touchdowns. The Saints dominated the Colts, 34-7, and improved to 11-3 on the season.