Of the five highest totals, every other quarterback had two 1,000-yard receivers. Brees' top two yardage guys were Lance Moore (928) and Devery Henderson (793). Somebody get to work on those Canton busts, please.
True, top receiver Marques Colston would have hit a thousand if he didn't miss five games because of a thumb injury. But even without Colston for nearly a third of the season, Brees cracked 5,000 yards. Amazing.
"They do a great job spreading the ball around to numerous receivers," Eagles defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said. "He throws the ball to a spot, and whatever body in a black-and-gold jersey is standing there, that's the guy" getting the ball.
The Saints' annoying trend of receiver-by-committee continued Sunday as Brees torched the Lions for 358 yards and six touchdowns. Only Henderson had more than 55 of those yards, and the six scores went to five different Saints. Colston, by far New Orleans' most highly regarded fantasy receiver, had a very pedestrian three catches, 30 yards and a touchdown.
From a fantasy standpoint, Colston and Moore should be in all lineups. Henderson is a decent third wide receiver, and Robert Meachem should be on the radar as a sleeper.
"They have a ton of weapons over there," Eagles safety Quintin Mikell said. "They even use Reggie Bush as a wide receiver, too. It's almost like pick your poison and see what happens. But we have guys in our secondary that can cover, too. We're not scared."
AP watch
Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is off to a good start in his quest to become the sixth player in history to run for 2,000 yards in a season. We'll keep tabs on him each week.
Season total. . . 180
Must average for 2,000. . . 121.3
This week's opponent. . . at Detroit
