METAIRIE, La. — Drew Brees could very well set the NFL's all-time record for yards passing in a single season — while playing for a losing team.

History shows that's a hard thing to do. Then again, the New Orleans Saints have found creative ways to disappoint their long-suffering fans before.

Brees threw for 422 yards in New Orleans' 34-20 loss to Atlanta on Sunday, which dropped the Saints to 4-5 and marked the second time this season Brees has thrown for more than 400 yards in defeat. Against Denver in Week 3, Brees threw for 421 yards in a 34-32 loss.

Brees has a league-leading 2,985 yards, putting him on pace for a record-setting 5,309.

Dan Marino set the record with 5,084 yards back in 1984 with the Miami Dolphins. Second place belongs to Kurt Warner, who threw for 4,830 with the St. Louis Rams in 2001. In third is Tom Brady, who threw for 4,806 yards last season with the New England Patriots.

Surely, everyone remembers where those teams ended up — playing in a Super Bowl.

True, all three teams lost in the Super Bowl, but there's a big difference between losing a championship game and failing to make the playoffs at all.

New Orleans isn't out of the playoff picture yet, but the Saints trail every team in the NFC South Division by no fewer than two games. They'll likely have to string together five or six victories in their last seven games to have any hope of a postseason berth.

At this point, New Orleans has yet to win two in a row, which has Brees feeling a little hollow about his gaudy passing numbers.

"I really don't care" about leading the league in passing, Brees said Monday. "The fact that we haven't been able to put two good consistent games together in a row is frustrating."

Brees' passing totals are in part a reflection of coach Sean Payton's play-calling. Payton, who also played quarterback in college and very briefly in the NFL, subscribes to a "West Coast" style of offense in which short passes are similar to runs.

Brees never threw for more than 3,576 yards in a single season during his first five years in the NFL with San Diego. His lowest total in his first two full seasons in New Orleans was 4,418 in 2006. Incidentally, the Saints made the NFC championship game that season, when they also ran the ball more effectively than they have since. Deuce McAllister rushed for more than 1,000 yards and Reggie Bush added 565 yards on the ground.

Last year, when McAllister missed all but three games with a knee injury, Brees threw for 4,423 yards — but New Orleans' running totals fell by about 300 yards and the Saints finished 7-9.

Despite his preference for passing and involving Brees' accuracy and decision-making in as many plays as possible, Payton said he is taking a hard look at the way he manages the game plan.

"As the head coach, I have to be mindful of how we do things and be just as critical of myself as we ask our players to be critical of themselves," Payton said. "We're always evaluating, trying to internalize. We know we need to be able to run the football more, for instance."

Payton said he intended to unleash a slew of running plays against the Falcons, but was forced to change plans after the Saints had to settle for field goals on early drives and fell behind by double digits.

Brees ended up with three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. The woeful play of the Saints' injury-depleted defense only made matters worse, but Payton was not ready to blame one unit over another.

"We're going to have to play better defense down the stretch to do some of the things we're talking about doing, but that also starts with us on offense in possessing the ball," Payton said.

The Saints will be challenged to improve. Three defensive starters — defensive end Charles Grant and cornerbacks Mike McKenzie and Tracy Porter — have been lost for the season to injuries in the past six weeks. Defensive end Will Smith and McAllister both could be suspended four games later this season because diet pills they took included a substance banned by the NFL.

Indeed, the Saints are dangerously close to missing the playoffs for a second straight year — passing records or not.

But it's too early to give up, Payton said.

"At a time like this, you find out a lot about players and coaches," Payton said. "It would be a lot harder to sit here with three games left in the season and the questions then would be about onto next year, evaluating young players. ... We have half a season left and we have to play this next half better."