AND now . . . The Mad Bomber ver sus The Mad Scientist.
Rex Ryan — who is Wrecks Ryan to opposing quarterbacks — versus Drew Brees on Sunday.
It’s the kind of matchup we used to crave around here in the good old days when Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick would send their muscle-bound barbarians into battle against Joe Montana and Jim Kelly. No. 1 offense versus No. 3 defense.
Brees, who has thrown for more than 4,000 yards three times and more than 5,000 once during his New Orleans tenure — gets to lead his 3-0 Saints against the 3-0 Jets in the antiseptic conditions of the Superdome. In 35 games indoors, Brees has completed 66.9 percent of his passes with 64 touchdowns and 38 interceptions.
But you can rest assured he won’t be getting cocky and partying on Bourbon Street this week. Because all he has to do is reflect back to that October day in 2006 when Ryan showed the world how you shoot the Brees.
The Ravens came, saw and conquered the Saints 35-22. It was 35-7 in the fourth quarter. Brees was 24-45 for 383 yards, 3 TDs and 3 INTs. Two of those touchdown passes, both to Marques Colston, came in garbage time in the fourth quarter.
“I just know that you gotta be multiple against this guy,” Ryan said. “If you’re just gonna stand there and play Cover 2, or you’re gonna play Cover 1, or you’re gonna play Cover 3 or whatever, this guy’s a student of the game, he’s gonna pick you apart. He can make all the throws, he throws the ball on time, it’s hard to get to, and he very rarely makes a poor decision.”
Ryan was asked whether Brees was flustered in that 2006 game.
“I don’t know, we were up 35-7 going into the fourth quarter . . . and they turned the ball over five times, so I think he probably was,” Ryan told The Post. “I know one thing — as soon as we backed off on him and went to the traditional coverages, he threw for like 200 yards in the fourth quarter.”
Yes, Ryan has different players. He doesn’t have Ray Lewis — although David Harris may be The Next Ray Lewis. And Brees still has Colston, still has Reggie Bush — who was limited to 21 yards of total offense that day in 2006 and knocked out of the game with an ankle injury — and now has a healthy Pierre Thomas and Jeremy Shockey. But The Mad Scientist was back in his laboratory devising new traps for The Mad Bomber.
“Show him one thing, play something else . . . you’re knowing he’s gonna make the proper read and you put a trap in there,” Ryan said.
The Ravens scored 28 points off five turnovers that day. Rookie defensive backs Ronnie Prude and Dawan Landry returned picks for touchdowns.
“You definitely have to try to give him different looks and try to confuse him a little bit because if he knows where to throw the ball, he gets it out in a hurry,” Ryan said. “You don’t have a chance to get there. You gotta mix things up on him or you’re in for a long day.”
Scott was asked to compare the challenge of shutting down the 6-foot Brees compared to Tom Brady.
“There’s no difference, the only difference is that he can’t see over the top of the defense like Brady,” Scott said.
Brees is difficult to sack (29 times in 2007 and 2008, four times this season). The Jets, who have to wait one more game for linebacker Calvin Pace to return, have four sacks.
“We’ve hit the quarterback just an unreal amount of times in these first three games,” Jim Leonhard said. “The sacks will come. Any team that throws that film on realizes that we’re getting to the quarterback.”
Brees was 26-of-34 for 358 yards and 6 TDs against the Lions at the Superdome, then 25-34 for 311 yards and 3 TDs at Philadelphia, then 16-29 for 172 yards in Buffalo, where the swirling wind was a factor. The Bills relied on a four-man rush.
“We were playing a lot of 3-deep, trying to take the deep ball away,” Bills cornerback Terrence McGee said.
Too bad the Bills surrendered 222 rushing yards. Kris Jenkins and Harris won’t let that happen. Neither, of course, will The Mad Scientist.