New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees is on pace to break Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season. Brees has thrown for 3,251 yards in 10 games, putting him on pace for 5,202. Marino's record of 5,084 is 24 years old, set in 1984.

Brees is averaging 325 yards a game. He needs to average 306 over the final six games to set the mark.

Brees' performance is amazing considering his receiving corps has been depleted. Reggie Bush, second on the team with 42 catches, has missed the past three games with a knee injury. Receivers Marques Colston and David Patten, slated to start entering the year, each have missed five games. Picking up the slack has been Lance Moore, a former undrafted free agent from Toledo in his third season. He has 52 catches for 609 yards. Former second-round pick Devery Henderson is averaging a league-best 25.2 yards a catch.

The ability to spread the ball around is Brees' great asset. He has completed passes to 14 different receivers this year. He takes what the defense gives him.

No quarterback ever has thrown for more yards than Brees through the first 10 games of the season. The last time this record was under such threat was in 2002, which Rich Gannon averaged 319 a game through 10 starts.

If Brees can stay on pace this week it will be amazing. The Saints play Green Bay on Monday night, and the Packers have perhaps the best cornerback trio in the league in starters Charles Woodson and Al Harris and nickel back Tramon Williams.

Green Bay ranks third in the NFL in passing yards allowed. The rest of Brees' foes and their pass defense ranking: Tampa Bay (fourth), Atlanta (22nd), Chicago (30th), Detroit (23rd) and Carolina (fifth).

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Norv is safe

Chargers coach Norv Turner apparently is on thick ice despite the fact his team has underachieved at 4-6. San Diego President Dean Spanos and General Manager A.J. Smith both adamantly stood behind Turner this week.

"I'm committed to him," Spanos said. "I believe in him. It's ridiculous to think he's not going to be back."

Turner has two years and more than $6 million left on his contract. The Chargers' six losses have come by a combined 25 points, and three have come in the final 30 seconds. San Diego trails Denver by two games with six to play. However, six Pro Bowlers have missed games for the Chargers or played through significant injuries -- linebacker Shawne Merriman, linemen Nick Hardwick and Marcus McNeill, running back LaDainian Tomlinson, tight end Antonio Gates and cornerback Antonio Cromartie.

"I think it's foolish," Smith said of talk Turner could be gone. "It's not even been discussed. There are lots of things we're going to discuss. But we hired a coach I believe in, someone I can work with. We're in this for the long haul."

Turner has a much better relationship with Spanos and Smith than his predecessor, Marty Schottenheimer, who was 35-13 in his final three Chargers seasons but 0-2 in the playoffs.

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Evans' smart deal

Bills receiver Lee Evans is pretty well financially covered if the NFL encounters labor trouble after the 2010 season.

Evans' new contract, as has been reported in the past, is front-loaded, with $29 million payable in the first three years -- 2008 through 2010. That's important because there is growing fear that there may not be an NFL season in 2011. If the NFL and the players' union can't strike an extension to their collective bargaining agreement, 2010 will be a year with no salary cap. The 2011 season could see a lockout of the players. Evans' agent, Ben Dogra, did a good job of seeing that his client is "insured," so to speak, if a labor-management meltdown occurs.

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Gruden praise

What makes Tampa's Jon Gruden such a successful coach? Detroit's Rod Marinelli weighed in on that subject this week. Marinelli was brought to the NFL by Tony Dungy at Tampa in 1996 and worked under Gruden with the Bucs in 2002, when Tampa won the Super Bowl.

"Coach Gruden could put a drive together with different personnel and keep [the opponent's] defense on the field," Marinelli said. "It keeps [your] defense rested, and now they can explode on you. He's absolutely the best in Football at how to win a close game. He knows how to win close games. If he's behind, he knows how to crawl back into a game. Strategically, he's the best in Football."

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Like father, like son

The oldest son of the late Derrick Thomas, the Chiefs' all-time sack leader, is following in his father's footsteps. Derrion Thomas, a senior defensive end for Blue Springs (Mo.) High School, had four sacks in a state quarterfinal playoff victory over Rockhurst High in Kansas City. Derrion was wearing the shoulder pads worn by his late father in the last game he played for the Chiefs in 1999.

Derrion Thomas had a speaking engagement to students at Derrick Thomas Academy, a school named after his dad. A Chiefs equipment manager was at the school and asked whether he wanted to wear his father's pads, which had been locked in one of the team's trunks. "They were a perfect fit," Derrion told reporters.

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Onside kicks

After his game-winning performance in Buffalo last Monday, put Cleveland's Phil Dawson in the lead for All-Pro voting at kicker. Dawson is 22 of 24 on field goal tries. His only misses were from 51 and 54. He has made 13 in a row and in the last three games has made kicks of 54, 52 and 56 yards.

The Steelers' defense entered this week ranked No. 1 against the run, No. 1 against the pass and No. 1 in total yards allowed. No team has finished that way since the great 1991 Philadelphia Eagles defense including Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner.

The Patriots' playoff hopes are on the line this week at Miami. Both teams are 6-4. But if the Pats lose, they will essentially be two games behind the Fish because of having lost both head-to-head meetings.

Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt will not be at Arrowhead today to watch his team play the Bills. He will be in Carson, Calif., watching one of his other teams, the Columbus Crew soccer club, play New York for the MLS Cup.

Slow starter: Philly's Donovan McNabb has connected on just 6 of 27 passes in the first quarters of the Eagles' last four games.

It continues to amaze that Peyton Manning has the Colts (6-4) back in playoff contention despite the fact his team ranks 32nd in rushing and 25th in run defense. The Colts aim to defy the odds again today against a San Diego team that has beaten them the last three meetings. If the Colts can win on the road tonight, they could get to 11 wins and secure a wild card spot. The rest of their schedule is: at Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, at Jacksonville and Tennessee.

e-mail: mgaughan@buffnews.com