While quarterback Drew Brees was smashing the single-season record for passing yards, the New Orleans Saints’ running backs were putting together an impressive season of their own.

In fact, it may surprise you to find out the Saints’ running game finished sixth in the NFL, gaining 129.9 yards per game. On a per carry basis they checked in at fourth in the league with a 4.9-yard average.

“It’s a huge part of our offense,” Brees said. “Typically, I’d say when you look at an offense, it would probably be hard to be top ten passing and rushing because there are only so many plays in a game and so you’re running it more you’re throwing it more. I think it’s great that we’ve been able to sustain the efficiency in both and create for the other, especially when you look at the overall yardage, both passing and rushing. It’s pretty unique.”

Perhaps the biggest reason the New Orleans’ rushing attack doesn’t get the proper attention — aside from Brees dominating the headlines — is because the team doesn’t have a traditional featured back. Instead they had a committee of four players sharing the load over the course of the season, ranging from 79-122 carries.

In terms of carries, the Saints were led by rookie Mark Ingram, yet he had the lowest yardage per carry (3.9) of the four players. New Orleans will be without Ingram on Saturday after the team was forced to place him on IR with a toe injury.

Picking up in Ingram’s absence is Chris Ivory. 

Ivory, who burst onto the scene last year as an undrafted rookie out of Tiffin University, missed the first seven weeks this year while recovering from  lisfranque and sports hernia surgeries. Since returning to the lineup, he has rushed for 374 yards on 79 carries, including a 127-yard performance in the Saints’ Week 17 win over the Carolina Panthers. 

In addition to Ivory, the Saints have Pierre Thomas (562 yards, 110 carries) and the always-explosive Darren Sproles. 

A versatile free agent pick up from San Diego, Sproles has effectively replaced Reggie Bush in the Saints offense. He finished the regular season with 1,303 total yards, 86 receptions and a ridiculous 6.9 yards per carry. 

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees will meet with the local media after this evening’s practice. But here’s a transcript from his conference call Tuesday with teh Detroit media:

On this potentially being a shoot-out type game: “Well, obviously I know how explosive Detroit is offensively. I also know that I think we feel like we’re playing (good) football as a team and as an offense, but you know, it seems like, typically, when you get weeks like this where everybody’s hyping up one side of the ball or the other, and you know, kind of predicting it to be a shoot-out or whatever–the defenses are off kind of quietly in the corner making sure they come out with their best performance and they take that as motivation. So, listen, I think what these are two very good teams going up against each other, two teams that have earned the right to be here.

“When I look at Detroit’s defense, I see a playmaking defense, one that creates a lot of turnovers, one that can really rush the passer, and obviously we’ve got to have a plan for all those things. So, I don’t know it could be a back and forth shoot-out. It could also be a defensive struggle, but I think you go into the game just with the mindset that it’s certainly going to take all 60 minutes and maybe more.”

On QB Matthew Stafford’s season: “I’m very impressed. I think he’s had a phenomenal season. I don’t think he’s received the credit that he deserves. I know he’s battled some injuries as well, so he’s displayed some toughness and obviously he’s fought through a lot. As a young player in this league, too, especially starting as a rookie, there’s a lot of…there’s a big learning curve and I know that he has seemed to handle that very well and he’s obviously been a big part of the turnaround there.”

On if Stafford reminds him of himself at 23: “He’s a much better player than I was at 23 (laughs). You know, obviously he was a top draft pick and so obviously there was a lot of expectation coming into the league for him and that brings a lot of pressure, but I think he’s handled that very well.

“You know, we’re both Texas high school quarterbacks that kind of went on different paths to get to the NFL, but regardless of how we got here, we’re all trying to make our mark and definitely have been impressed with what he’s been able to do.”

On the difference in the Lions with Louis Delmas, Chris Houston, and Ndamukong Suh: “They’re playmakers. Obviously they make their defense better, so we expect a Lions defense at full strength. I believe we’re going to be at full strength and so, it should be a heck of a game.”

On last year’s playoff game motivating the Saints this season: “Well, it’s two different situations you know, and it’s two different teams. From the team we were last year, to the team we are right now, but certainly that was a game we were favored in, even though we were going on the road and playing in a pretty hostile environment. And then, obviously, got upset by Seattle, so I think just what we understand and what we learn from that is that once you get to the playoffs, it doesn’t matter what your record is or how you got there, it’s all about how you’re playing when you do get there and obviously, who’s able to rise to the occasion.”

On records not mattering once you’re in the playoffs: “That’s absolutely true. It doesn’t matter how you got there, it’s all about how you’re playing when you do get there. I looked through the last decade, there’s been three six seeds that have won the whole thing.

“You look at Pittsburgh, I believe, back in (’05), Giants in ’07, Green Bay last year, so it just shows (that) once you’re there, anything can happen.”

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees and the record-setting Saints held nothing back in their season finale, heading into the playoffs in dominant fashion.

Brees passed for 389 yards and five touchdowns, and the New Orleans Saints set a slew of NFL and club records in a 45-17 blowout of the Carolina Panthers today.

The NFL single-season records set by the Saints (13-3), who head into the playoffs on an eight-game winning streak, included offensive yards with 7,474, team yards passing with 5,347 and first downs with 416.

New Orleans will host the Lions in the opening round of the NFC playoffs.

Brees, who was 28 of 35, finished with a record 468 completions this season, breaking Peyton Manning’s 2010 mark of 450. He finished the season completing 71.6 percent of his passes, breaking his own 2009 NFL record 70.6 completion percentage.

Jimmy Graham had 97 yards receiving to finish with 1,310, exceeding Kellen Winslow’s 1980 record for a tight end. But New England’s Rob Gronkowski finished with 1,327 yards, establishing a new mark.

Darren Sproles had 40 yards rushing, 29 yards receiving and 99 yards on kickoff and punt returns to finish with season with an NFL record 2,969 combined yards, easily breaking the previous mark of 2,690, set by Derrick Mason with Tennessee in 2000.

Carolina (6-10), which had won four of five, kept up for much of the first half but wilted over the final two quarters.

Marques Colston caught Brees’ first two scoring passes, making a spectacular, spinning catch with arms outstretched on the first one from 15 yards out.

Colston’s second touchdown went for 42 yards, and he finished with seven catches for 145 yards. He broke the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth time in his six pro seasons.

Brees also connected with Graham on a 19-yard scoring strike, and added TD passes of 9 yards to Darren Sproles and 1 yard to fullback Jed Collins.

Graham’s TD catch was his 11th, matching a club record also reached by Joe Horn in 2004 and Colston in 2007.

Brees surpassed 300 yards passing for the seventh straight game and 13th time this season, both NFL records he already held and simply extended.

The records come one week after Brees passed Dan Marino’s 27-yard-old single-season record of 5,084 yards passing.

Brees finished the season with 5,476 yards to go with 46 touchdown passes.
Remarkably, Brees didn’t even play most of the fourth quarter for the second time in three games. As was the case in a 42-20 win at Minnesota two weeks earlier, Brees was relieved by Chase Daniel after the Saints had built a commanding lead.

Although San Francisco’s lopsided victory means the Saints could not improve their No. 3 seeding in the NFC playoffs, coach Sean Payton had said during the past week that he wanted his team to continue building on the torrid pace it established during its second-half winning streak. He was true to his word, with aggressive play calling that produced a franchise record 617 yards of total offense. It was the 13th 400-yard game for the Saints this season.

With six touchdowns against Carolina, the Saints finished with 66 this season breaking the 2009 record of 64.

Cam Newton closed out an otherwise spectacular rookie season 15 of 25 for 158 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The Saints had 360 yards of total offense in the first half, when they easily blew past the Rams’ 2000 yardage mark.

Brees passed for 249 yards in the half, when he hit Colston for the Saints’ first two passing touchdowns.

Both defenses struggled for much of the half, and the each time might have scored more if not for Patrick Robinson’s interception of Newton in the Saints’ end zone and R.J. Stanford’s interception of Brees deep in Panthers territory.

Chris Ivory gave the Saints a 7-0 lead on the opening series of the game with his 35-yard touchdown.

The improving Panthers hit right back with Newton’s 12-yard timing pass to Smith to tie it. Later, Jonathan Stewart’s 29-yard scoring run pulled the Panthers into a tie at 17 with 1:18 to go in the second quarter.

That was too much time for Brees and the Saints’ high-flying offense, as Brees connected on his long TD pass to Colston with 7 seconds on the clock to make it 24-17 at halftime.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Saints set an NFL record for the most yards of offense in a season on Sunday, while Drew Brees broke Peyton Manning‘s 2010 mark for single-season completions.

The 2000 St. Louis Rams held the previous net yardage mark of 7,075. New Orleans eclipsed that in the second quarter of Sunday’s season finale against the Carolina Panthers on a pass from Brees to Robert Meachem before finishing with 7,474.

Brees also wound up completing 71.2 percent of his passes for the season, eclipsing his own 2009 record of 70.6.

Brees completed 28 of 35 passes for 389 yards, giving him 468 completions, which easily broke Peyton Manning’s record 250 completions last season.

In the third quarter, Brees surpassed 300 yards passing for the seventh straight game and 13th time this season, both NFL records he already held and simply extended.

Having broken Dan Marino’s 27-yard-old single-season record 5,084 yards passing last week, Brees maintained the record by increasing his final season total to 5,476 yards, 241 yards ahead of New England’s Tom Brady, who became only the third NFL quarterback to pass for more than 5,000 yards in a season.

The Saints closed out 2011 with 5,347 net yards passing, another NFL record, again topping the 2000 Rams, who passed for 5,232. New Orleans team completion percentage for the season of 71.3 was yet another league record, breaking the mark of 70.7 set by the 1982 Cincinnati Bengals in a strike-shortened season.

Darren Sproles had 40 yards rushing, 29 yards receiving and 99 yards on kickoff and punt returns to finish with season with an NFL record 2,969 combined yards, easily breaking the previous mark of 2,690, set by Derrick Mason with Tennessee in 2000.

Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 97 yards, giving him 1,310 on the season, surpassing Kellen Winslow’s 1980 record of 1,290 yards receiving by a tight end. However, New England tight end Rob Gronkowski finished the day with the record in his possession at 1,327 yards.

By not fumbling once against Carolina, the Saints set a league mark for fewest fumbles in a season with six.

They also had 416 first downs for the season, 18 more than the previous record set by Kansas City in 2004.

With their 45-17 victory over the Panthers, New Orleans boosted its season point total to 547, smashing the 2009 franchise record of 510. The Saints’ 2011 point total ranks third in NFL history. New England holds that record with 589 points in 2007.

Combined with Chris Ivory’s TD run, Brees’ five scoring passes gave the Saints 66 touchdowns on the season, surpassing the 2009 club record of 64.

Brees’ 46 touchdown passes are a franchise record and led the NFL this season, one ahead of Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, who did not play in the Packers’ season finale.

Saints punter Thomas Morstead broke his own franchise record of 45.9 yards per punt last year with an average of 47.9 this season.

Other club records for a season included yards per play (6.7), yards per rush (4.9), fewest turnovers (19), punting average (46.9) and third-down conversions (118).

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints have played at such a high level lately that there’s been more drama about which records would be broken rather than whether or not the Saints would win. As a Saints fan, the last two weeks have been surreal as one NFL record after another fell by the wayside. That trend continued on Sunday as the Saints dominated the Panthers 45-17 and laid waste to more records.

New Orleans Saints vs. Carolina Panthers

Despite the incessant stat watch that took place during the FOX broadcast of the Saints vs. Panthers game, I was much more interested in scoreboard watching. As nice as it is for the Saints to now own all these records, it was more important for New Orleans to keep their fleeting chances at a first round bye alive.

Personally, I was glad to see New Orleans give 100% because I despise the Panthers loud-mouths Steve Smith and Jeremy Shockey. Also, it seems like every year, an NFC South also-ran picks up a cheap win over the Saints in the last game because New Orleans rests its starters. However, the Panthers received no such gift from the Saints today.

I believe New Orleans has been playing so well that Sean Payton wanted to keep that momentum going against the Panthers. Brees was on fire and torched the Panthers for 389 yards and 5 TDs. He finished the regular season with 5,476 passing yards. And it was nice seeing the Atlanta Falcons and Panthers get humbled in the last two games.

I was also happy to see New Orleans feed the ball to Darren Sproles so he could break the NFL all-purpose yardage record. I wonder if the critics will complain about that too. All in all, it was a great day for the Saints. New Orleans stayed sharp by dismantling the Panthers, they broke some more records and most importantly they stayed healthy.

Looking ahead

Thanks to the St. Louis Rams, the Saints will have to play next week. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Detroit Lions and the Falcons embarrassed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who quit a long time ago. So now the Saints get to face the Lions as New Orleans begins its quest to win a second Super Bowl in three years.

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.

Sources

FOX broadcast of Carolina Panthers vs. New Orleans Saints

“Week 17 Scoreboard,” yahoo.com

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