Drew Brees’ TD streak comes to an end against Falcons

Remember the Drew Brees touchdown streak that everyone was touting earlier this season when he surpassed Johnny Unitas’ record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass? Well, you can forget about it now, because it’s over.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback had thrown a touchdown pass in 54 consecutive games until Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, but he can immediately start on a new streak: Most games with at least five passes intercepted.

That’s how many of Brees’ passes were picked off Thursday. But that didn’t mean the Falcons respect their rival any less.

“I didn’t realize that until we walked off the field,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said of the end of the touchdown streak. “That’s an unbelievable streak. Drew Brees is an outstanding quarterback. The way the defense played tonight speaks volumes. The guy had gone out there and thrown touchdown after touchdown game after game after game.”

For the game, Brees completed 28 of 50 passes for 341 yards.

“I guess records are made to be broken, and at some point, they come to an end,” Brees said after the game. “We played well enough to win, with the glaring exception of the turnovers. It doesn’t really matter how they happened. The fact is that there were five of them, and that’s extremely disappointing.”

The defending NFC South champion Saints lost their second in a row and will likely have to win out to have even a faint hope of making the postseason. They are 5-7 after the loss.

The Falcons are 11-1 and will clinch the NFC South with a month to go if Tampa Bay loses at Denver on Sunday.

ALSO:

The 8 most underrated things about L.A. sports

Checking in on Vin Scully during his 85th birthday

Spurs send four starters home before playing in Miami