Luke Kuechly Attributed The Panthers Defensive Woes On Sunday To Drew Brees

#Panthers LB Luke Kuechly: "People ask me, "What happened to your defense?" Drew Brees happened to our defense. That's what happened."

— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) December 7, 2015

You know what the most depressing part of this season has been? The fact that Drew Brees is probably still one of the five best quarterbacks in the National Football League. Don't believe me? Ask 'Defensive Player Of The Year' candidate Luke Kuechly. One of the players, on an upper echelon defense, that got absolutely torched by Drew Brees. Even more impressive than that, they got torched by Drew Brees playing behind a pathetic, at best, offensive line and throwing to Brandin Cooks, 34 year old Ben Watson, and a clusterfuck of players that no one, including myself in some instances, has ever heard of.

The narrative seems to be that Drew Brees is regressing as his career is slowly, but surely, coming to a close, and that couldn't be further from the truth. He obviously hasn't maintained the level of dominance that Tom Brady has, but that doesn't mean he's Peyton Manning. In reality, he is far closer to the former than the latter, but the level of talent he has around him pales in comparison to both of them. The struggles Tom Brady is experiencing now, while the majority of his weapons are on the trainer's table, are the very same struggles that Drew Brees has had to endure with his offense at full strength. Shit, the second best player on this offense is undoubtedly Mark Ingram, and Sean Payton refuses to give him the ball enough to take any pressure whatsoever off his aging, Hall Of Fame quarterback. Add in a historically bad defense and you get a 4-8 team that is doing everything it can to make Drew Brees look like a pedestrian signal caller. That's what the worst part of this season has been. Watching Drew Brees lose that aura of invincibility because a majority of the cast of characters he has around him are only doing their best to act like NFL caliber players. Games like Sunday remind us just how good Drew Brees can be, and it's a shame that his Head Coach, that can't decide whether he's a lame duck or not, didn't do enough to ensure there were quality playmakers around him.