NEW ORLEANS — One favorite son surpassed another here Monday night as Saints quarterback Drew Brees set the all-time mark for passing touchdowns at 541, breaking the prior record of 539 held by the legendary Peyton Manning, a native of New Orleans. As Brees’s Saints were putting a 34-7 beating on Manning’s former team, the Indianapolis Colts, the crowd was rocking and celebrating as only New Orleanians can.

That it happened on national Monday Night Football made it an even bigger occasion, as did the multiple other fun coincidences of time and place. Of course, Manning’s father, Archie Manning, played more than a decade for the Saints, and the Manning family remains beloved in the Crescent City. This was, therefore, not an “our guy beat your guy” kind of feeling. Brees will always be first in Big Easy hearts, and the ebullient fans let him know it, but there is also pride in Peyton.