For the second consecutive week, fans have voted Saints quarterback Drew Brees the FedEx Air player of the week. With the prize goes another $2,000 contribution in Brees’ name to local Junior Achievement chapters.

Brees broke Dan Marino’s NFL single season passing yardage record last Monday night as the Saints clinched the NFC South title with a 45-16 whipping of the Atlanta Falcons. For the night, Brees completed 23 of 39 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns.

Tuesday felt very much like Ash Wednesday in New Orleans. The morning streets were eerily quiet as the city slowly rousted itself from the Carnival-like celebration of Drew Brees’ record-breaking passing performance for the New Orleans Saints the previous night.

Alas, there’s always someone who wants to rain on the parade, even one as universally fun as Monday’s surprisingly easy 45-16 flogging of the Falcons.

The criticism of the Saints’ decision to go for Dan Marino’s 27-year-old single-season passing yardage record in the final minutes of a 22-point game was surprising. It also was unwarranted.

In case you missed it, apparently a few Falcons players and media members were offended by the Saints’ decision to go for the record with a 22-point lead and three minutes to play.

Some felt the Saints were running up the score, rubbing salt in the wounds of a bitter archrival when Brees hit Darren Sproles for a 9-yard touchdown pass that gave him 5,087 yards for the season, three better than Marino’s old mark. Others went further, calling the decision classless and disrespectful.

The Falcons’ frustration is understandable. They’d just been embarrassed by their archrivals on national TV in a critical game. It was their most lopsided regular-season loss in years and their fifth setback in the past six meetings with the Saints. Their Angry Bird mentality makes sense.

But truth be told, this really had nothing to do with them. They were just innocent bystanders. This had everything to do with Brees, the Saints and New Orleans.

This was a New Orleans moment, a town and team celebrating one of their own. It was their chance to honor Brees for his remarkable season and celebrate a significant accomplishment in his burgeoning Hall of Fame career. It was as if Coach Sean Payton and the Saints were saying to America, “OK, you can continue to snub this incredible player in the MVP balloting, but you can’t deny this moment. This is our time.” Or more appropriately, “This is his time.”

“I felt like the moment was right, so you go with your gut,” Payton said Tuesday afternoon. “I thought it was the right decision last night. This morning, I thought it was clearly the right decision.”

Right place, right time

Payton wasn’t trying to rub it in the face of the Falcons and their classy coach, Mike Smith, and he said so afterward. In fact, both Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Smith went out of their way after the game to praise Brees and acknowledge the significance of his accomplishment.

“We have a ton of respect for Falcons Coach Mike (Smith), his staff and his players,” Payton said Monday night. “It seemed like the right thing to do. I felt real good about the decision.”

He should. It was the correct thing to do.

Was it a little defiant and impulsive? Maybe. Did it fly in the face of conventional wisdom? You bet. And that’s exactly why New Orleanians loved every second of it. After all, what city loves itself or embraces its eccentricity more than New Orleans, right?

Besides, it’s exactly what everyone — with the exception of the Falcons and their fans — wanted. The sellout crowd had packed the stadium in anticipation of witnessing history. A nationwide audience on the “Monday Night Football” broadcast had stayed up past its bedtime to catch the historic event.

This was the appropriate setting for such a remarkable achievement by such a remarkable player. The alternative was to wait and watch him break the mark Sunday at noon against Carolina. No, this historic mark needed the right moment, and it materialized fatefully in the final minutes of play Monday night.

“He is such a great teammate,” Payton said of Brees. “His leadership ability transcends just the New Orleans Saints team and into this region. I think it is pretty obvious. It was pretty special last night for the fan base to share in that accomplishment.”

Make no mistake, Payton didn’t go for the record to ingratiate himself with fans. He did it for the only reason he should have: because it was the best thing for his team and organization.

The last thing the Saints (12-3) needed was the distraction of the record chase to carry over another week. Brees and his teammates needed to turn their attention toward the Carolina Panthers (6-9) and trying to secure the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs.

End games

Now Payton has some important decisions to make.

How does he handle Sunday’s game against the Panthers and the dynamic Cam Newton? Does he rest his regulars, knowing the chances of the Rams (2-13) beating the 49ers (12-3) are slim to none? Or does he go for it again and risk losing a key player or two to injury?

Payton was mum about his intentions Tuesday.

In a nearly identical situation last season, Payton elected to play his regulars and watched safety Malcolm Jenkins, tight end Jimmy Graham and running back Chris Ivory drop with injuries in the first half. A dreadful loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs followed.

Moreover, where do all of the records and historic streaks come into play?

The Saints are 219 yards shy of the NFL record for total yards in a season set by the 2000 St. Louis Rams.

Brees has a 42-game streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to consider.

And lest we forget, New England’s Tom Brady trails Brees by a mere 190 yards in the passing yardage race. If Payton sits Brees early, he runs the risk of seeing Brady overtake his star at the season’s finish line. After Monday night’s euphoria, you know he wants to maintain the record for Brees.

Then again, Payton can’t afford to expose his star quarterback to injury for a second longer than necessary. As soon as the 49ers’ game is decided, he needs to pull Brees and all of the regulars he can. This is one time where the team needs to eschew its one-game-at-a-time philosophy. The Saints need to be thinking ahead. The Super Bowl is the priority.

“What we have to do is keep playing,” Payton said. “The playoffs are close. How do we put ourselves in the best position to play well and put ourselves in an opportunity to win a championship?”

From here on out, a championship is the only thing that matters.

Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3404.

After obliterating the NFL record books this year, the New Orleans Saints’ offense is now taking over the Pro Bowl too. For the first time in franchise history, five offensive players were invited to the annual all-star game, including first-time selections tight end Jimmy Graham and offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod.

They joined quarterback Drew Brees and guards Carl Nicks and Jahri Evans, thanks to a combination of votes by fans, players and coaches. Graham, Evans and Nicks are starters. No defensive players or special teamers made the team.

This is the third straight year the Saints have had at least five Pro Bowlers, though they’re all hoping to skip the game to play in the Super Bowl instead, like they did two years ago. This year’s game will be played in Honolulu on Sunday, Jan. 29, one week before Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

It’s no surprise that the Saints landed five offensive players in the game – including Brees, who was selected for the fifth time in the last six years. Brees broke Dan Marino’s NFL record for the most passing yards in a single season on Monday night, reaching 5,087 yards with one game to spare. And the entire offense is on pace to break the 2000 St. Louis Rams’ NFL record of 7,075 yards in a season, among other marks.

Graham also has a shot at NFL history. He needs 68 yards in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Carolina Panthers to break Kellen Winslow’s 31-year-old NFL record of 1,290 receiving yards by a tight end. However, Graham also needs to pass up New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is six yards ahead of him right now during a league-wide tight end revolution.

In just his second NFL season, Graham has put together one of the most prolific seasons by a tight end in NFL history, with 91 catches for 1,213 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“Being selected to represent the NFC team in the Pro Bowl is a tremendous honor,” Graham said in a statement released by the team. “If you look around the NFC, you see a ton of amazing and talented players at tight end and to be thought of in that company by my peers, the head coaches and the fans who follow the NFL is something I take seriously. I think it goes without saying that there are many people to thank–starting with my position coach, Terry Malone, our offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael and Coach (Sean) Payton. None of this would be possible without working with guys like Drew Brees, our running backs and receivers and the guys in the tight ends room. David Thomas has been a great mentor, as was Jeremy Shockey, and I have learned a lot from each guy who has worked with me over the past two seasons. My focus right now isn’t on going to Hawaii, it’s on the Carolina Panthers and getting ready for the playoffs, but I think any guy who gets named to the Pro Bowl realizes that it’s a heck of compliment and I am grateful and humbled by it.”

Bushrod’s selection was a breakthrough moment for the fifth-year pro and third-year starter. The recognition is certainly due after he’s flown mostly under the radar in his young career. He has only allowed three sacks this season while protecting Brees’ blind side.

Evans and Nicks are widely considered the NFL’s best guard tandem, thanks to the way they create a secure pocket for Brees to step into, as well as the way the block for run plays and screen passes. This is the third straight Pro Bowl selection for Evans and the second straight for Nicks.

The list of Pro Bowl alternates was not immediately released, though it’s likely the Saints could earn more invites down the road when replacement players are needed.

One day Baylen and Bowen Brees will tell their friends about the night their father broke the NFL record for passing yards in a season. They’ll talk about how it came on the day after Christmas against the archrival Atlanta Falcons on the game’s biggest stage, “Monday Night Football.”

But the Brees boys won’t tell the whole story, because they might have been the only ones in New Orleans who didn’t actually see Drew Brees break Dan Marino’s hallowed 27-year-old milestone in dramatic fashion, making America and an anxious crowd wait until his final pass to eclipse the mark of 5,084 yards set in 1984.

“They were home sleeping,” Brees said of his sons, minutes after his record-setting performance in a euphoric 45-16 rout of the Falcons. “But they may have felt the reverberation in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.”

The Saints (12-3) have played a lot of big games in the Dome during the Brees-Sean Payton era. And this one will rank right up there with the cathartic NFC championship game victory against the Vikings, the astonishing rout of the Patriots in 2009 and the inspirational come-from-behind win against the Texans on the five-year anniversary of the Dome-coming game with Steve Gleason in the house.

The stakes were bigger but as far as moments go, only Gleason’s blocked punt, Garrett Hartley’s field goal and Tracy Porter’s interception might match this one for sheer dramatics.

Few in the stadium will forget the moment when the record fell. Let the record show the milestone tumbled on a 9-yard touchdown reception to Darren Sproles with 2 minutes, 51 seconds remaining.

“Just an amazing feeling, an amazing moment,” Brees said after the exclamation point of his 307-yard, four-touchdown night that leaves him with 5,087 yards for the season. “We couldn’t have made it more dramatic could we? … It makes me feel good. I think we made a lot of people happy tonight.”

Brees went out of his way to deflect talk of the record last week. He said he was trying to numb himself to conversation. But it was a futile effort. Everywhere he went it was the topic of discussion.

Afterward it was clear how important it was to him. He carried the game ball from the touchdown under his left arm for several minutes on the sideline as a parade of teammates lined up for congratulatory hugs. He addressed his teammates for several minutes in the post-game locker room after receiving the game ball.

Payton appropriately made a point of recognizing the history of the occasion afterward in the locker room. Marino’s record, after all, had stood for 27 years. Some of the game’s greatest quarterbacks ­– Joe Montana; Steve Young; Brett Favre; Kurt Warner; Peyton Manning; Tom Brady — have aired it out in the league since then and not broken it.

“Obviously, it’s a special moment for the players and especially Drew,” said Payton, still sporting a large smudge of eye black from his emotional hug with Brees after the record. “I couldn’t be more proud of him. … It was special. There are certain things you remember. It was significant.”

In 2008, Brees fell 15 yards and one incompletion to Lance Moore short of the record. That year, he insisted he was unaware of how close he was to the mark as the Saints frantically tried to rally in a close loss to the Panthers.

This time, there was no doubt about it. Everyone in the stadium held their collective breath as Brees methodically marched down the field.

As Sproles streaked into the end zone, Brees thrust his fists into the air and was swarmed by the entire offense into a roiling dogpile. Payton and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael thrust their fists into the air simultaneously.

“That was one of the best feelings I’ve had as a Saint,” said guard Carl Nicks, who wrapped Brees in a bear hug and lifted him over his head as teammates swarmed to congratulate him. “This was probably better than the NFC championship. It was like a movie. It’s a beautiful ending.”

Afterward, Payton admitted he eschewed traditional end-of-game strategy to make a run at the record down the stretch. He said he felt it was appropriate to go for the mark at that time. And I agree wholeheartedly.

With all due respect to the Falcons (9-6), the Saints needed to get the record out of the way. It had become the 500-pound elephant in the locker room for the past month. The last thing they needed was to deal with the issue for another week.

Now they can focus on the playoffs and the main priority: another Super Bowl run.

Indeed, the record became so big it eclipsed the game, which, in itself, was substantial. The Saints secured the NFC South Division title with the win and clinched either the No. 2 or No. 3 seed along with it.

They still have an outside shot at the No. 2 seed but would need help from an unlikely source Sunday to earn it. They need to defeat the Carolina Panthers and hope the 2-13 St. Louis Rams can somehow upset San Francisco (12-3) to knock the 49ers out of the No. 2 seed.

That means Brees and company will be forced to play most of the way in their battle with the Panthers. He’ll get a chance to add to his record and keep distance between himself and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who trails him by only 190 passing yards.

“You do have to enjoy these things because you don’t how often they are going to come around,” Brees said. “They’re rare.”

Indeed, it was a rare night. And even rarer was the quarterback who made it so special.

Saints 21, Falcons 10

Drew Brees found Jimmy Graham in the back of the end zone as Graham used his height advantage and jumping ability to pull down his 10th touchdown of the season as the Saints opened up a two-score lead. Graham’s touchdown total is the most by a Saints tight end in a single season.

On the drive, Brees completed a 2-yard pass to Marques Colston that made him the first player in NFL history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season twice.

All-Pro New Orleans Saints

Being named an All-Pro by the Associated Press is one of the highest honors that an NFL player can receive. This honor is more prestigious than the Pro Bowl because All-Pro players are chosen from all 32 NFL teams. With another incredible season winding down, the New Orleans Saints should have several All-Pro players on their 2011 squad. Take a closer look at the Saints players who are worthy of NFL All-Pro recognition in 2011.

Guard: Jahri Evans

Since his NFL career began with the Saints in 2006, Jahri Evans has been one of the most respected offensive linemen in the league. In 2009 and 2010, Evans was not only selected to the Pro Bowl, but he was also a first team All-Pro. Evans has consistently kept opposing defenders away from QB Drew Brees and the Saints interior rushing attack has improved considerably in the second half of 2011.

Safety: Roman Harper

After the Saints playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, I would have never dreamt that I’d be writing an article promoting Roman Harper as a 2011 All-Pro candidate. However, playing in his natural strong safety position in 2011, Harper has reminded me of other hard-hitting All-Pro NFL safeties such as Ronnie Lott. The best hitter and tackler on the Saints, Harper also has 7.5 sacks in 2011 in Gregg Williams’ blitz-happy defense.

Tight End: Jimmy Graham

Prior to the 2011 NFL season, I wrote an article claiming that Saints TE Jimmy Graham would be a top five tight end this year. Many of my non-Saints fan readers had probably never heard of Graham. However, he quickly became the favorite target of Drew Brees in 2011. Despite the emergence of several athletic, All-Pro NFL tight ends in 2011, Graham should make the All-Pro squad with his 87 receptions and nine TDs.

Quarterback: Drew Brees

Three NFL QBs distanced themselves from the pack in 2011. However, if he breaks and holds the coveted NFL single-season passing yardage record, Drew Brees has got to be a 2011 NFL All-Pro QB. Brees also has the Saints within reach of matching the most wins in franchise history. If Brees does not make the 2011 NFL All-Pro team, it will be a clear indication of a lack of respect for the Saints by the national media.

Other Saints who could be All-Pro in 2011

Guard: Carl Nicks, Kick Returner: Darren Sproles, Safety: Malcolm Jenkins

Patrick Michael was born and raised in New Orleans and currently resides in the Big Easy. As such, he is a lifelong, diehard New Orleans Saints fan. His highlight as a Saints fan was experiencing the magical Super Bowl season of 2009.

Source

“Drew Brees,” pro-football-reference.com

“Jimmy Graham,” pro-football-reference.com

“Roman Harper,” pro-football-reference.com

“Jahri Evans,” pro-football-reference.com

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Drew Brees isn’t the only player on the New Orleans Saints making NFL history this year. His new favorite target, tight end Jimmy Graham, is within striking distance of some all-time receiving records of his own.

With 1,171 receiving yards this year, Graham is on pace for 1,338, which would be the most by a tight end in NFL history, breaking the mark of 1,290 set by Kellen Winslow in 1980. However, Graham also needs to hold off New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is on pace for 1,304 yards this year.

Graham also has a shot at Tony Gonzalez’s NFL record of 102 receptions by a tight end, set in 1994. Graham has 87 catches with two games remaining, putting him on pace for 99.4.

Even though Graham knew he had the opportunity for a breakout year in his second NFL season, he admitted that those numbers and records are mind-blowing.

“Definitely,” said Graham, who also has nine touchdown catches this year. “You know, being so young and it happening so quickly, I mean obviously it’s been a pretty special year. But the records, I don’t even think about ‘em. It’s honestly, I know we’ve got a big Monday night game coming up, and I honestly don’t even know what my stats are.

“For me, I just move on to the next one, and all I can think about is that fumble (in the first quarter last week at Minnesota).”

That miscue was rare. It was the first lost fumble of Graham’s career. But even when he has dropped a pass or run the wrong route in the past, Graham has routinely made up for it with a positive-impact play or two.

Heading into this season, knowing he’d have a chance to be the Saints’ full-time starter, Graham said one of his biggest goals was to “make an impact play every game.”

When making that list of goals, though, Graham said he never really thought about specific numbers like 100 catches or 1,300 yards.

“One of my biggest goals individually was I remember saying I would love to make it to a Pro Bowl,” said Graham, who can already book that ticket to Hawaii by this point. “To me, that kind of summed up what kind of year it must have been, including maybe catches and yards and stuff like that. But for me it really hasn’t been a focus. It’s just been about being healthy for the next one.”

The most remarkable thing about Graham’s historical pace is that he is playing for an offense that spreads the ball around to so many different playmakers. In fact, no skill position player has made the Pro Bowl for the Saints since Brees and Coach Sean Payton arrived in 2006 – a fact that is certain to change when Graham gets there this year.

Of course everything Graham has accomplished this year is even more amazing considering he’s still relatively new to the game. He played just one year of college football after playing four years of basketball at Miami. Then he caught 31 balls for 356 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie for the Saints last year.

Still, Brees said he’s not surprised by the numbers Graham is racking up this year. After all, he witnessed another former basketball player, Antonio Gates, emerge into an instant force at tight end with the San Diego Chargers earlier in the decade.

“I’ve been around a guy that, in particular, you kind of felt like, ‘Hey man, if everything works out the way it’s supposed to, this guy can be something special.’ I definitely feel that way about Jimmy,” Brees said. “I couldn’t be happier for a guy for where he’s come from and where it all started from him (with a difficult upbringing as a child) and where he’s at now and where he still has left to go. You just say, man, it’s pretty awesome.”

On a recent episode of The Sports Train, I defended the uphill opinion that the New Orleans Saints, with a record of 11-3, are currently the best team in the NFL.

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints are the best team in the NFL right now
Wikimedia Commons

At 13-1, the Green Bay Packers still undoubtedly enjoy the top record in the league. Yet, they are coming off a late-season loss that now makes such comparisons fair game. Furthermore, the impressive victory for the 11-3 San Francisco 49ers on the December 19th version of Monday Night Football might give that team a stake in the argument as well.

However, upon stacking the teams side-by-side and examining their potential for post-season success, I believe the New Orleans Saints are most likely to achieve Super Bowl dreams.

One cannot ignore than Green Bay has already defeated New Orleans during the 2011 campaign. In a game where the home team grabbed an early lead, the Packers opened the season by triumphing 42-34 over the Saints. The shootout featured 10 total touchdowns and a combined 876 net yards, making for fun television.

Yet, the result proved little defensively. While the Pack made a big stand when needed, the team certainly benefited from playing in Lambeau Field on a night where the famed squad raised the banner on last season’s Super Bowl championship.

Green Bay received the early edge in the standings, but offensive dominance and overall defensive abilities remained in question.

While New Orleans proceeded to stumble early to weaker Tampa Bay and St. Louis teams, the Packers flirted with an undefeated season, before Sunday’s 19-14 upset by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Just as it is unfair to judge these teams by letdowns against lesser opponents, so too should we not look at week 1 as exclusive evidence of the superior franchise.

Indeed, much has changed in the past 4 months and New Orleans now appears the more complete team. Though Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees have both performed near flawlessly, it is Brees who will likely shatter Dan Marino’s longtime record for passing yardage. The momentum from such an achievement just might inspire more post-season magic by the Saints’ signal-caller.

Additionally, while defensive stats reveal that both teams will surrender points, the potential of New Orleans’ diverse running game provides a definite edge over the Pack. Neither squad is led by a pro-bowl caliber stud, but the trio for the Saints tops its competition. Mark Ingram, Pierre Thomas, and Darren Sproles have each accrued steady yardage and produced a combined 17 touchdowns out of the backfield.

Furthermore, way back in week 1, newly signed Darren Sproles was not smoothly intergrated into the offense and only received 2 carries for 7 yards against Green Bay. Though he is not an every down back, the 5’6″ speedster now possesses an eye-popping 6.5 yards per carry average and has become one of the fiercest weapons in the NFL.

On that note, Brees’ top asset, second year tight end Jimmy Graham, was largely an unknown commodity during the matchup with the Packers. Though he enjoyed a solid game, the tight end’s performance has steadily improved throughout the year. With 1171 yards and 9 TDs through 14 games, Graham may be the league’s best at his position.

Finally, while Brees has experienced a few games that failed to match his overall track-record, I believe a formula for defeating Rodgers has been more clearly exposed. Because of injuries to his offensive line and the loss of Greg Jennings, Rodgers spent much more time on the ground in the loss to the Chiefs. Suddenly, his passes were less sharp and, in fact, the potential MVP missed open throws.

To Green Bay’s credit, I don’t expect Rodgers’ high-powered offense to be stopped in a big playoff game. But I do think there is a real possibility of it being slowed sufficiently that the team would struggle to keep up with New Orleans. And there is little evidence that the NFL’s second worst defense can contain the Saints’ passing or running attacks.

Cases can be made for both teams and perhaps the surprising 49ers or surging New England Patriots belong in the debate too.

Yet, as of this moment, I will take the Saints.

But, remember, this is the NFL and things do change quickly.

Source:

Yahoo! Sports, ESPN.com

More by Jeff Briscoe from Yahoo! Contributor Network:

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Jeff Briscoe is a writer from Florida who covers sports for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and the Fort Myers Examiner. A loyal Tampa Bay Bucs fan, his favorite sounds include the firing of the cannons at Raymond James Stadium.

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The Minnesota Vikings came into the game against the New Orleans Saints with 40 sacks as a team, and defensive end Jared Allen had 17.5.

They leave the game against the Saints with the same totals.

“Their whole scheme is designed around (keeping the other team from getting sacks),” said Vikings defensive end Jared Allen. “I thought we got some good pressure on him at times, but he did a good job of getting rid of the ball. I know that I missed one by the hair of my chin and there were a couple of times where we had good rushes.”

Allen noted that Brees is frustrating because he knows how to elude tacklers, but he also credited the Saints line in how they blocked.

“There were chips and everything,” he said. “I don’t know about holding, they didn’t hold. It’s tough when they’ve got chip blocks and double and triple teams. At one point I had three guys chasing me. They did a lot of boot legs away and Brees gets rid of the ball. Like I said, I thought there was three times I probably could’ve had him and they made a play.”

The Saints offensive line has been solid all season, but against the Vikings, they were exceptional. The offense had 573 yards and like Allen said, prevented Brees from being sacked.

“You gotta slow a guy like that down,” said Saints left tackle Jermon Bushrod. “You’re playing at his home and the crowd came out to play. Sometimes you’ve got to come out and bump him a little bit and that worked to our advantage. We just had to go out there and get the job done against a good defensive line and linebacking corps.”

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings couldn’t have been much closer in their epic NFC title game showdown on Jan. 24, 2010, an overtime thriller that Drew Brees and the Saints barely survived on their way to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title.

Less than two years later, the two franchises could hardly be further apart.

The Saints (10-3) roll into the Metrodome on Sunday as one of the model teams in the NFC, an organization with a rock solid foundation at the three most important positions — front office, coach and quarterback.

By no coincidence, the Saints are in first place in the NFC South, two games ahead of the Atlanta Falcons and tied with the San Francisco 49ers for the second-best record in the NFC. Even with the Green Bay Packers looking like the class of the league, the Saints still have a realistic shot at a return trip to the big game.

“We’re a veteran team that’s been through a lot,” Brees said. “We’ve kind of learned the formula for winning and sustaining success.”

The Vikings (2-11), meanwhile, have fallen off the cliff ever since Garrett Hartley’s 40-yard field goal split the uprights to end Minnesota’s hopes of their first trip to the Super Bowl since 1978. Brett Favre returned for one more ill-fated run the next year, a long, miserable 6-10 season in which coach Brad Childress was fired, Favre was embroiled in a texting scandal, Randy Moss came and went in about four weeks and the Dome’s roof collapsed.

“You really can’t explain it,” Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield said. “It’s crazy. The Saints, they’re still a really good football team. Drew Brees still down there, working hard, making plays. I really don’t know what’s going on. We really can’t put our finger on it.”

Start with the lack of continuity. Since that loss, the Vikings have used five quarterbacks — Favre, Tarvaris Jackson, Joe Webb, Donovan McNabb and now rookie Christian Ponder — and have had a lot of turnover on the coaching staff.

“In my mind, it seems like eons ago, seems like forever when we played them in the NFC championship game,” Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. “So much has transpired between that time and where we are today.”

While not as catastrophic off the field, Frazier’s first season has been even tougher on the field. McNabb didn’t pan out as the quarterback who was supposed to keep the team from a rebuilding season, the secondary was decimated by injuries, Adrian Peterson has missed the last three weeks with a high ankle sprain and Ponder has experienced the growing pains everyone expected when he took over as the starter seven games ago.

The Vikings have lost five games in a row, with the only solace to be taken that a team that waved goodbye to meaningful games more than a month ago continues to show up every week and give its opponent all they can handle, including last weekend in Detroit, when the Vikings fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter but still had a chance to win the game on the final play.

“There are a lot of reasons not to really concentrate and focus and battle,” Frazier said. “And they found reasons to battle, to focus, to believe that they could get back in that game and win that game.”

Still, moral victories aren’t giving much comfort to a veteran team that remembers what it feels like to be so close.

“Me and Kevin (Williams) were laughing about it today, saying, ‘We’ve got to do something. We’ve got to turn it around. That can’t be the only memory of being close to the Super Bowl that I tell my grandkids about at some point,’” defensive end Jared Allen said.

The Saints are looking to add another chapter to a book that already includes one fairy tale finish.

Brees is playing as well as he ever has, threatening the single-season passing record and seemingly getting stronger as the season has progressed. He has topped 320 yards passing in four straight games, with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions during that span.

New Orleans has won five in a row and six of seven to keep the Falcons (8-5) at arm’s length and keep pace with the 49ers for the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. Jimmy Graham has emerged as one of the dominant tight ends in the game and linebacker Jonathan Vilma has been back in the middle of the Saints defense for the last two games after missing four weeks with knee surgery earlier in the season.

“For us it’s been a journey,” Brees said. “We’ve been able to win a lot of games and put ourselves in pretty good position within our division and playoff wise. It hasn’t been easy by any means. We’ve had to fight through some adversity. We’ve had to fight through some injuries at key positions and certain things.”

Saints coach Sean Payton, who has been in place with Brees for the last six seasons, said continuity has been the biggest key to New Orleans’ sustained success.

“When you look at ownership, GM, head coach, players on our team, the staff, there’s been a very stable program where I think everyone understands how hard it is, how difficult it is, the challenges we face in winning games and getting to the postseason,” Payton said.

The Detroit Lions put up a better fight than most opponents in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday night. But as usual, the Saints’ offense delivered the biggest punches.

The Saints used four quick-strike touchdown drives, ranging from 48 seconds to 4:08, to overwhelm the Lions in a 31-17 victory.

The Saints barely did anything in the first or third quarters. But like any good video-game offense, they seemed to keep pushing that power-boost button whenever a big play was needed.

The Saints’ most important score came with 9:44 remaining, when quarterback Drew Brees hit tailback Darren Sproles with a 6-yard touchdown pass to go ahead by two touchdowns. Then the defense slammed the door shut.

“Listen, we’ve got a lot of work to do still,” Saints Coach Sean Payton said. “But I like the fact that we’re playing with confidence. I like the fact that we answered in that second half when the momentum shifted.”

Although it wasn’t the cleanest performance by the Saints (9-3), with some lulls on both sides of the ball, they did more than enough to win their fourth straight game. They also widened their lead to two games in the NFC South, after a loss by the Atlanta Falcons (7-5) earlier in the day.

“This is the time of year when you want to be playing your best football, stack those wins together,” said Brees, who continued his torrid pace with 342 passing yards, three touchdown passes and no interceptions. “Obviously you take them one at a time, but we’ve won four straight now, and hopefully we can keep it going.”

The Lions (7-5) dominated the time of possession Sunday night, 35:06 to 24:54. And they outgained the Saints 466 to 438. But the Saints outplayed them in four key areas.

They didn’t turn the ball over, and they ultimately had a 1-0 turnover advantage when cornerback Tracy Porter intercepted a desperation fourth-and-2 pass with 3:00 remaining.

The Saints had just three penalties for 30 yards, and the Lions hurt themselves with 11 penalties for 107 yards, including a rare handful of offensive pass interference calls.

The Lions were 2-of-11 on third downs and the Saints were 6-of-12.

Most important, the Saints showed off that quick-strike ability on offense that has tormented so many defenses in the past.

Both offenses started slowly. The Saints led 3-0 after the first quarter. But the Saints got on track starting with the first play of the second quarter, when Brees hit Meachem with a 38-yard pass on third-and-4.

That play highlighted a 97-yard touchdown drive, which lasted 4:08 and ended with a 14-yard touchdown run by tailback Mark Ingram and gave them a 10-0 lead.

After a Lions punt, the Saints made the score 17-0 on a two-play drive that lasted 48 seconds and ended with a 67-yard touchdown pass from Brees to Meachem.

Then, after Detroit scored a touchdown, the Saints responded with an eight-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that lasted 2:06 and ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Brees to receiver Lance Moore.

When Moore was asked after the game if he’s amazed by the way Brees is playing, he said, “I would say he doesn’t amaze us. He’s just being Drew Brees out there. We see it every day in practice.”

The only thing that was able to stop the Saints’ offense at that point was halftime.

The Saints were a different team when they came out to start the third quarter, on both offense and defense. The Lions outscored the Saints 10-0 during the third quarter to close with seven points.

They were on their way to scoring again early in the fourth quarter, after a 47-yard pass from Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford to receiver Nate Burleson, when the Saint’s defense held up and forced Detroit to attempt a 55-yard field goal.

When kicker Jason Hanson missed wide left, the Saints’ offense took over at their own 45-yard line. Then they hit that power-boost button and scored again on a seven-play drive that lasted 2:54.

“Their offense did a great job with two long scoring drives,” Brees said of the Lions. “So all the sudden we find ourselves in a situation where we haven’t scored. We haven’t helped the defense at all. We definitely felt a sense of urgency: ÔWe have to do something offensively. We have to pick up where we left off in the first half.’ “

After the Saints went up 31-17, the defense finished strong, forcing a punt and later getting Porter’s interception.

Stafford said he felt like the Lions had a chance to come back from a 17-point deficit for the fourth time this season, but he was frustrated by how badly they hurt themselves.

“I don’t know how many times we had a 20-plus yard pass play called back because of a penalty,” Stafford said. “We didn’t capitalize on opportunities.”

Up next for the Saints is back-to-back road trips at Tennessee and Minnesota before back-to-back home games against Atlanta and Carolina.

As of now, the Saints are firmly entrenched as the No. 3 seed in the NFC. They would need to make up two games on the San Francisco 49ers (10-2) because of tiebreakers to take over the No. 2 seed.

“We’ve gotten kind of on a little bit of a run here,” Payton said, though he cautioned that his team had better not get comfortable any time soon. “I think the minute you feel like everything is just perfect, that’s not a good thing.”

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Mike Triplett can be reached at mtriplett@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3405.

Another home game. Another home run for the Saints.

Six times they’ve played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome this season. Six times they’ve won going away.

These affairs are starting to feel like “Groundhog Day.” The opponents, times and dates change, but the outcomes remain the same: a blowout victory for the home team.

The victims Sunday night were the Detroit Lions, a gritty and undermanned bunch that waged a good fight but ultimately succumbed 31-17 before a giddy sellout crowd of 73,048.

The game followed a familiar script for Saints fans. Drew Brees staked the Saints to an early lead. The defense bent, but it didn’t completely break. Brees threw more touchdown passes. The PA system nearly short-circuited on “Stand Up and Get Crunk.” Rinse. Wash. Repeat. Same as it ever was. This could have been Monday night against the Giants or Sunday afternoon against the Bears.

The win was the Saints’ 25th in their past 32 home games. It was the fifth time in six home games that they’ve rung up at least 30 points. And it was the fourth consecutive time they haven’t trailed for a single second of action. In fact, in wins against the Bears, Colts, Buccaneers, Giants and Lions, the Saints have trailed for only 9:18 of a possible 300 minutes. Only the Houston Texans have managed to avoid a wire-to-wire loss.

“Obviously, it was a big win for us,” Saints Coach Sean Payton said. “To get to nine wins was significant. We have a lot of respect for (the Lions).”

Other than a mind-boggling number of penalties, the Lions (7-5) did just about everything right in their upset bid. They dominated time of possession. Matthew Stafford matched Brees strike for strike. And, yet, it still wasn’t good enough.

The Saints led throughout and pretty much did what they wanted on offense.

Brees had another monster night and continued to notch records at an unprecedented rate. He completed 26 of 36 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. Equally important, he completed his third consecutive interception-less game. He surpassed 4,000 yards passing on the season to become the first quarterback in league history to eclipse the threshold in 12 games and stayed on pace to break Dan Marino’s hallowed NFL record for passing yards (5,084) in a season. His three touchdown passes gave him 30 for the season, tying him with Brett Favre as the only quarterbacks in league history to reach the milestone in four consecutive seasons.

“To me, he’s just being Drew Brees out there,” receiver Lance Moore said. “For him to have those numbers, that’s a great credit to him and to Sean Payton and the offense.”

The Saints needed all of Brees’ heroics to beat the Lions. Detroit was missing nearly half of its defense, including star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Stafford passed for 408 yards to become the second consecutive quarterback to surpass the 400-yard passing mark in as many weeks against the Saints.

“It wasn’t perfect,” Payton said. “There are a number of things we’ll be able to look at on tape that we’ll need to clean up. We are going to have to continue to work on those things.”

Sunday was a good day for the Saints. The Falcons, Cowboys and Bears all lost. At 9-3, the Saints now have a two-game cushion in the NFC South. They stayed within striking distance of the 49ers for the No. 2 seed and kept a firm hold on the No. 3 seed. The second and third seeds are critical this season because teams want to avoid a divisional round trip to likely top-seeded Green Bay if at all possible.

But the Saints will worry about postseason scenarios another day. After back-to-back blowouts of the Giants and Lions, they’ll take a four-game winning streak on the road to Tennessee and Minnesota the next two weekends. If they can pull off the sweep, they’ll return to the Superdome for games against NFC South rivals Atlanta and Carolina.

“We feel like this is the time for you to be playing your best football,” Brees said. “Here we are having won four in a row, and hopefully we can keep that streak going.”

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Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3404.

It’s time to acknowledge what has become abundantly clear in this sixth season of the Sean Payton/Drew Brees era: This Saints offense is one of the greatest in NFL history. Maybe — gulp — the best ever.

I know that’s a bold declaration. And it probably seems incredible for longtime Saints fans, who were weaned on the anemic offenses of Carl Smith and Danny Abramowicz.

But by any measure, the Saints deserve to be mentioned with the greatest offensive juggernauts in league lore.

They’ve led the NFL in total offense three times in the Payton/Brees era and are on top again this season. In fact, they’re amassing yards at an unprecedented rate and passing with unparalleled efficiency.

The Saints are averaging a league-best 449.6 yards per game, 45 yards more than they averaged in their Super Bowl-winning season of 2009. They’re on pace for 7,194 yards, which would set an NFL record. They’re also within reach of league season marks for first downs (398), passing yards (5,232), pass attempts (709), pass completions (450) and completion percentage (70.65).

Through 11 games, they have gained 4,946 yards, the third-highest total in NFL history. Only the 2000 St. Louis Rams (5,148) and 1951 Los Angeles Rams (5,047) gained more yards at a similar stage.

Don Coryell’s Chargers of the early 1980s and the 1999-2001 Rams are widely considered to be greatest offenses in NFL history.

Although the 1999 Rams actually won the Super Bowl, the 2000 attack was more prolific offensively, setting the NFL season record for yards gained with 7,075.

There remains a lot of football to be played. Whether the Saints etch their names in the record books remains to be seen. But it’s safe to say this offense is undoubtedly the best in club history, better even than the attack that steamrolled all comers en route to the Super Bowl XLIV championship.

“I feel like we have the opportunity to be better (than 2009), but we’re not there yet,” Brees said. “As I look at our guys, we have a lot of guys from that ’09 team. The guys we’ve added — Jimmy Graham, Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram — not too shabby.”

Other factors have contributed to this potentially historic season.

The schedule is as user-friendly as possible. Eleven of the Saints’ 16 games have been or will be played in domed stadiums. Their trip to Green Bay came in September, not December. Road trips to Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Charlotte came during the temperate and relatively dry month of October.

And the Saints have stayed relatively injury-free, especially in their perimeter group.

But more than anything, the Saints are on a record pace primarily because they boast the deepest roster of skill-position talent in the league.

As Detroit Lions Coach Jim Schwartz noted last week when asked about tonight’s game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, “It’s not the time of the year, the atmosphere, the game or the playoff implications,” he said. “It’s Drew Brees, (Marques) Colston, Jimmy Graham … good gracious, you could keep naming those guys for a half hour.”

Although the Saints might lack a sure-fire Hall of Fame talent other than Brees, they compensate with quantity.

They’re the only NFL team with three runners who’ve rushed for more than 400 yards. The Saints are so deep at running back, their leading rusher from last season, Chris Ivory, wasn’t even active last week, even though he was healthy.

Ivory, Sproles and Ingram are significant upgrades over Reggie Bush and Mike Bell, who formed two-thirds of the Super Bowl-winning backfield.

What’s more, the Saints are the only team with seven receivers with 20 or more catches. Only four teams have as many as six.

And Graham just might be the best tight end in the game, and he’s only in his second season.

The multiplicity makes this Saints offense almost indefensible. If defenses concentrate their coverage on Graham and Sproles, as Atlanta did last month, Colston burns them for eight catches and 113 yards. If they employ five defensive backs to counter the passing attack, the Saints pound Ingram and Thomas on the ground behind Pro Bowl guards Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks.

“The thing about this team is we have so many playmakers,” Ingram told Sports Illustrated after the Saints’ 49-24 rout of the Giants on Monday night. “When guys are on the field, we still have elite players standing on the sideline. So at any time we know we can make a play. We know we can score at any moment in the game.”

Of course, the man who makes it special is Brees. In addition to his obvious talent as a passer, teammates marvel at his ability to manage the club’s complex system and multiple personnel packages. His pre-snap aptitude, the ability to decipher the defense, and then successfully orchestrate the offense’s array of formations, personnel groupings and protections is perhaps the element that separates the Saints from everyone else.

Saints right tackle Zach Strief said he once asked Brees how often he snaps the ball and doesn’t know what the defense is doing. His answer: Maybe once a game.

“He sees everything,” offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael said. “He’s superb at that.”

I asked Brees last week to name the best offenses in NFL history.

As you’d expect from such a student of the game, Brees rattled off a list with the authority of a pre-snap audible: the Rams’ Greatest Show on Turf; the Air Coryell Chargers; the 2007 Patriots; the Walsh/Montana 49ers; Favre’s Packers; and the Dallas Triplets.

“This list goes on and on,” Brees said. “It would definitely be a goal of ours — when it’s all said and done after this whatever-year span that we can do this — man, we’d love to be in that category,”

I’d venture to say they already are.

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Jeff Duncan can be reached at jduncan@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3404.