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. 

Not much else going on in the NFL world today.

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.”

Leave your comments on the news below.

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.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

That’s all the news for today.

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

More from this contributor

Is Drew Brees the frontrunner for 2011 NFL MVP?

Should the Saints now be at the top of NFL power rankings?

Game summary of Super Bowl 48

NFL nonsense: Pierre Thomas fined for Christmas bow incident

Top 5 NFL players in the Hall of Fame who should not be

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Bree’s records set on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

· Brees, who set the NFL single-season record for passing yards last Monday night against Atlanta, set two more single-season marks Sunday, for completions and completion percentage. Brees’ final season totals: 468 completions (an NFL record), 657 attempts, 71.2 percent completion percentage (NFL record), 5,476 yards (NFL record) and 46 touchdowns.

· Brees broke his own record for completion percentage (70.6, 2009) and topped Peyton Manning’s mark for completions (450, 2010).

· Sunday marked Brees’ 13th 300-yard passing game of the season, extending his own NFL record, and his seventh consecutive 300-yard game, another NFL mark. Brees has 50 games of 300 yards or more in six seasons with the Saints.

· Brees’ franchise-record 46 touchdown passes are the most in the NFL this season and the fourth most in NFL history (Tom Brady 50, 2007; Peyton Manning 49, 2004; Dan Marino 48, 1984).

· Brees will take a streak of 43 consecutive games with a touchdown pass, second-longest in NFL history, into the 2012 season. Johnny Unitas holds the NFL record of 47 consecutive games.

· Brees also extended his NFL-record streak of games with 20 or more completions to 35.

· Brees’ big day elevated his season passer rating to 110.6, breaking his own franchise record of 109.4 set in 2009.

Thanks for reading! .

New Orleans Saints individual records (non-Drew Brees) and notes from the win against Carolina on Sunday.

· TE Jimmy Graham had eight receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown. He set a franchise record for receptions in a season with 99 and tied another mark with his 11th touchdown reception. The previous mark for catches was 98 by Marques Colston in 2007. Colston, in 2007, and Joe Horn, in 2004, are the other receivers in Saints history with 11 touchdown catches.

· For a brief moment, Graham held the NFL record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end (1,310), before New England’s Rob Gronkowski caught a 23-yard pass in the final two minutes to up his season total to 1,327.

· Running back Darren Sproles had 168 combined net yards (40 rushing, 29 receiving, 45 punt returns, 54 kickoff returns) Sunday to improve his season total to 2,696, an NFL single-season record. The previous mark of 2,690 was set by the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Mason in 2000, and the second-highest total (and previous Saints franchise mark) of 2,647 was set by Michael Lewis in 2002.

· Colston caught Brees’ first pass on Sunday to go past the 1,000-yard mark in receiving yards for the fifth time in his six seasons with the Saints. Colston, who had 10 catches for 145 yards against the Panthers, ends 2011 with 80 receptions for 1,143 yards.

· Graham, Sproles and Colston all finished with 80 or more receptions.

· Colston and Graham are only the second set of teammates in franchise history to each have 1,000 or more yards receiving. In 2001, Joe Horn finished with 1,265 receiving yards and Willie Jackson 1,046.

· Cornerback Patrick Robinson’s second-quarter interception was his team-leading fourth of the season, two of which came off Carolina’s Cam Newton. Robinson is the seventh different Saints defender to lead or co-lead the team in interceptions since 2007.

· Rookie linebacker Martez Wilson’s third-quarter sack of Newton was the first of his career.

· Punder Thomas Morstead broke his own franchise history for punting average at 47.9. He averaged 45.9 yards per punt a year ago.

· Kicker John Kasay’s 144 points scored and 63 points after touchdown extended his own franchise records

What are your opinions.

The New Orleans Saints host the Carolina Panthers today at noon at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The game will be televised by Fox and broadcast by WWL-870 and 105.3.

Coaches: Sean Payton (61-34 regular season; 4-2 postseason in six seasons, all with the Saints), Ron Rivera (6-9 in first season with Panthers)

TV: Fox-8; Joe Buck play-by-play, Troy Aikman color.

Radio: WWL-870, 105.3.

KEEP AN EYE ON

PANTHERS QB CAM NEWTON

Well, duh, but according to Saints defenders, Newton is a rare, complete package. First, he can run (14 rushing touchdowns this season). “Normally there are a lot of plays where, on defense, you’re 11 going on 10 because you don’t have to account for the quarterback,” linebacker Scott Shanle said. “That’s not the case here. It’s almost like he creates another gap.” In the example Shanle cited, an old school run has the fullback leading a halfback through the hole. One linebacker takes on the fullback, another makes the tackle. But the Panthers can line up their fullback like a wingback and, when the defense adjusts to account for that, the unit is a man short if Newton runs off a play-action fake. In the passing game, Newton’s howitzer arm creates problems. Even in the NFL, many quarterbacks can’t make all the throws once they break containment, safety Malcolm Jenkins said. That means in most games, safeties can cheat, give up on receivers on the far side and collapse the field toward the quarterback. But because Newton can make the deep throw back across, Jenkins said the secondary has to hold its ground even when Newton is on the move, which creates more space for Newton to exploit once he crosses the line of scrimmage and makes it more likely defenders Newton does encounter have to take him on one on one. And if there is another thing that sets Newton apart, Shanle and Jenkins both said, it is his size. At 6 feet 5, 248 pounds, Newton is an intimidating and difficult man to tackle.

PANTHERS WR STEVE SMITH

This is partly a football judgment, because Smith is a very good receiver who has hurt the Saints in the past. He has eight touchdown catches against New Orleans in his career. During his 11 years in the NFL, Smith has averaged better than six yards after the catch, and New Orleans comes into the game allowing the highest yards after the catch in the NFL. Smith credits rookie quarterback Cam Newton with rejuvenating what appeared to be a career in embers, and Smith, an 11-year veteran, has enjoyed a Pro Bowl season with 73 catches for 1,308 yards and six touchdowns. But what will also bear close watching today is Smith’s relationship with the New Orleans secondary because Smith got a nice chunk of his 2011 statistics — along with a post-TD end zone smash — when the Saints visited Charlotte, N.C. In that game, Smith had three catches for 79 yards, 54 of which came on a scoring grab that ended with him sauntering in the end zone and taking a blind side late hit from safety Roman Harper. Harper absorbed a $15,000 fine from the league for his message, and Smith is known to be a brash, outspoken sort of player. Taking the safe route, perhaps, Coach Sean Payton and several players insist that sort of thing rarely carries over even though some tension has always existed between Smith and the Saints since they play each other often as division rivals. As might be expected, Payton had nothing but high praise for Smith, whom he coached in the Pro Bowl after the 2006 season. In particular, Payton said that setting gives insight into the things a player brings to the game that don’t show up on tape, and Smith’s dedication and superb conditioning are what make him “explosive” to this day.

KEY MATCHUP

SAINTS S ROMAN HARPER vs.

CAROLINA TEs JEREMY SHOCKEY and GREG OLSEN

Carolina will rely on its ground attack — the Panthers are on the cusp of becoming the first team in NFL history with three players rushing for more than 700 yards in a season — but the reliable tight end tandem has proved the rookie quarterback’s best friend. Olsen, acquired in an off-season trade with the Bears, is second on the team with 45 catches for 540 yards and five scores. Shockey, the former Saint, carries a streak of 135 regular-season games played with a reception and has caught 34 passes for 437 yards and four touchdowns. Twice this year, most recently against the Falcons on Dec. 11, each has caught a touchdown pass in a game. Though he will have help, Harper is likely to be the main defender on the pair. “I wouldn’t say, ‘old times,’” Harper laughed when asked about playing Shockey. “Shock’s always good to go up against, he’s always teaching me stuff when he was here, and I still use a lot of those tactics today. So it’s always a fun matchup with him because he talks and he’s, he’s just Shockey. Olsen is also a very talented guy. I think Olsen is younger so he probably runs a little bit better than Shockey does now, that’s just downfieldwise. But I would also say Shockey is a little bit more savvy in his routes and doing some things like that. They’re both big and can run. So you look at them and there’s not a lot that’s different, and you have to respect both of their games.”

BY THE NUMBERS

17-16 – Panthers lead all-time vs. New Orleans. 3-0 – Saints’ active win streak against Carolina. 32 – Saints’ NFL rank in surrendering yards after catch. 2 – Saints’ NFL rank in yards gained after catch. 48.1 – Saints’ third-down conversion rate since 2006, best in the NFL. 56.3 – Saints’ third-down conversion rate in 2011. 4 – NFL records Brees has set and is still adding to thus far in 2011.

FROM THE COACH’S MOUTH

“There’s a lot of improvement statistically. We try to do a PowerPoint every Wednesday on the things we see with the opponent, and statistically there are a ton of areas that they’re playing better than they were the last time we played them. The last time we played them I think we were only three or four games into the season. There’s some uniqueness to what they do offensively, certainly it starts with the quarterback and his ability to hurt you with his arm and hurt you with his legs. He’s very talented. The players around him are playing exceptionally well. They’re doing a better job with the football, so there are a lot of areas where they’ve improved in, and it showed up when you look at their recent games. I think it’s a big test for us.” – Sean Payton on the Panthers.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton on Friday listed three players as out due to injury for Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. The players are wide receiver Lance Moore (left hamstring), running back Mark Ingram (right toe) and tight end John Gilmore (right toe). Moore aggravated his injury in the Saints’ Monday night victory against Atlanta, and Ingram, who had been inactive for the club’s past three games, suffered a setback at practice this week.

In both cases, that could spell trouble for the players’ return in the playoffs which, unless the St. Louis Rams can beat the San Francisco 49ers and give New Orleans a shot at the No. 2 seed in the NFC, would begin for the Saints next weekend in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Although Payton has been surprisingly up front and calm this season when discussing injuries, he remains loath to divulge information he thinks could provide a competitive advantage and was thus non-committal Friday when asked if Ingram’s and Moore’s postseason status may be in jeopardy.

“Obviously, there’s a concern each week,” Payton said. “I think you just deal with it on a daily basis. I mentioned Mark kind of had a setback, you just treat and rehab it. With Lance’s hamstring you do that same thing; same thing with John Gilmore. I think the only thing you can do is hit the rehab hard and pay attention to how they’re feeling, and recognize it’s really the same if it was week seven heading into week eight.”

But next week will be a different scenario. As Payton and quarterback Drew Brees have made clear, next week is a “must win” because a loss is a season-ender. Nevertheless, Payton said the thinking in terms of the injury report will remain consistent.

“Obviously, the importance of a playoff game is significant, but the player has to be healthy,” he said. “It would have to be very simple: does he help us, does he help the team in playing well enough to win a game? And if the answer is no, it’s potentially something that is not full speed, and it could hurt the team, then you can’t play him. So that would be a lot like week eight or week nine.”

Nor is it an exact science, as Payton said the Falcons’ game and the preparation for it last week made clear.

“Lance was recovering and recovering, and it seemed like he was doing well, he had a couple of catches, and on the third catch I think it was all of a sudden he pulled up,” Payton said. “Now you’re at 45 (players on active roster) on game day. So you’re always trying to gauge where that player is and if he’s healthy enough to play and help us. If the answer is yes that’s one thing, and if it’s, ‘no,’ sometimes that’s a difficult decision.”

Payton indicated a decision has not yet been made on the status of a handful of other players. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma (left knee) and safety Malcolm Jenkins (neck) were limited at practice and listed as questionable. Cornerback Patrick Robinson (left hip) and linebacker Jonathan Casillas (right knee) participated fully and are probable.

Carolina’s final injury report of the week included sobering news for Panthers fans. Starting defensive end Charles Johnson (back), who is tied for 10th in the NFC with nine sacks, did not practice all week and was listed as doubtful, and defensive tackle Andre Neblett (head) is out.

Also out are two backups, wide receiver Legedu Naanee (foot) and safety Jordan Pugh (head). Safety Charles Godfrey (shoulder) is probable, as is guard Travelle Wharton, who cropped up on the report Tuesday and Wednesday for non-injury related matters.

LEAGUE FINES: Five Saints players were hit with a $5,000 fine by the NFL for uniform violations tied to red and green tape they wore in the Atlanta game the night after Christmas, according to a league source. They were receivers Marques Colston, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson, cornerback Tracy Porter and running back Pierre Thomas. Thomas’ fine for his touchdown celebration, which involved taking a bow out of his pants and tying it around the football which he then presented as a gift to a fan, also drew a fine of $7,500, according to a league source.

NO NEW YEAR’S EVE: The Saints are creatures of habit during the season and that will not change tonight for New Year’s Eve. The holiday requires some additional logistical planning but an identical mindset to any other pregame night, according to Payton.

There are times when altered Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s plans are part of the NFL job description and this is one of them.

“For us, we’re so routine and schedule-oriented,” Payton said. “The challenges really become a little more difficult when you’re playing at home and you’ve got family and friends who are in. But we check into a hotel, we have meetings, we have bed-check and it’s much more structured. The trick is the logistics of noise, traffic, there’s a lot going on in the city and making sure players allow enough time to get to the hotel and dealing with all the other distractions that can come up. But internally we’re on a pretty good and a pretty tight schedule.”

James Varney can be reached at jvarney@timespicayune.com or 504.717.1156.

What do you guys think about this.

New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton met with the media Friday to preview Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.

Opening statement:

“Mark Ingram (right toe) did not practice; he’s out for this game. Lance Moore (left hamstring) did not practice; he’s out for this game. John Gilmore (right toe) did not practice; he’s out. Malcolm Jenkins (neck) was limited; he’s questionable. Jon Vilma (left knee) was limited; he’s questionable. Patrick Robinson (right hip) was full; he’s probable. Jon Casillas (right knee) was full; he’s probable.”

Do you think some of the guys you mentioned on the injury list might not be available for the playoffs?

“Each week, I think you just deal with it on a daily basis. Yesterday I mentioned Mark (Ingram) kind of had a setback and we just treat and rehab it. With Lance (Moore’s) hamstring, you do the same thing and you treat it day-by-day. Same thing goes with John Gilmore. It’s really just those three players that are listed out for this game. I think the only thing you really can do is hit the rehab hard, pay attention to how they’re feeling and just recognize it’s really no different than if we were in week seven getting ready to head to week eight. Obviously the importance of the playoff game is significant, and yet the player has to be healthy, so there aren’t any decisions really. It’s just staying on top of the rehab and communication.”

Does a potential upcoming playoff game next week affect your decision on whether you play a player in this week’s game?

“I think it would have to be very simple: does he help the team in playing well enough to win a game? If the answer is no, if it’s something that is potentially not full speed and it could hurt the team, then you can’t play them. If the answer is yes, that would be a lot like week eight or week nine. It happened last week where Lance (Moore) as recovering and it seemed like he was doing well and then on the third catch all of a sudden he pulled up and now you’re at 45 (players) on game day. You’re always trying to gauge where that player is and is he healthy enough to help us. If the answer is yes, then that’s one thing. If it’s no, sometimes that’s a difficult decision.”

Was there any thought to not put the scores of the 49ers-Rams game this weekend on the scoreboard in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome?

“Honestly there are so many thoughts that come ahead of that, but I understand the question. I think we’re treating it like we would (any game). This is a chance for us to win a 13th game, which has really been done once in this organization’s history. We just got done talking at the end of practice, we feel like we’ve been playing good football and yet there are areas that we feel like we can improve on. We feel like that could help us heading into the postseason. We want to finish strong and we want to play well. I think that is separate entirely from what happens with any of the other games. It’s always this last week where there are a handful of scenarios. I think maybe it’s a little clearer in the NFC because it really just comes down to one game with either the Giants or Cowboys winning, but other than that the field is set. I think we’re going to really pay closer attention to how we’re doing rather than how anyone else is doing.”

Is the NFL getting what they wanted in terms of fascinating finishes with playing divisional games later on in the year?

“Probably a little bit, and yet if our game wasn’t in the division it wouldn’t be any different. In other words, they’re units — the wins and losses. Certainly you understand the goal was to try to create more meaningful games in late December and January and I understand that.”

Does the possibility of Drew Brees’ single-season passing yardage record come into consideration at all with playing him?

“Not really. There are a lot of statistical little things that could be achieved or not achieved in this game, but not really. I think the focus is playing our best game against a team that we feel like is playing very well and is very hot and very difficult to defend. They’re a team that’s gotten better and better certainly since we played them last, which seems like such a long time ago. I think our focus is really on what we need to do to play our best football game and play these guys and finish the season on the right note.”

Will there be any different routine the night before with it being New Year’s eve?

“For us, we’re so routine and schedule-oriented, whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s, the challenges really become a little more difficult when you’re playing at home and have family and friends in. We check into a hotel and have meetings and bed-check. It’s much more structured. The trick is the logistics of noise and traffic. There’s a lot going on in the city and making sure players allow themselves enough time to get to the hotel and dealing with all the other distractions that can come up. Internally, we’re on a pretty good and tight schedule.”

That’s all the news for today.

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.

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The New Orleans Saints’ offense isn’t the only unit rewriting the NFL’s record books this year. The Saints already set the league record for most touchbacks on kickoffs in a season with 62 so far. Now tailback/kick returner Darren Sproles and punter Thomas Morstead are also within range of breaking NFL records as they head into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Carolina Panthers.

Sproles has a league-leading 2,528 all-purpose yards this year, based on the combined total of his rushing, receiving, kick return and punt return yards. He needs 163 yards to break the single-season NFL record of 2,690, set by the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Mason in 2000.

Sproles needs 120 all-purpose yards to break the franchise record of 2,647 set by Michael Lewis in 2002. Lewis’ total ranks second in NFL history.

Sproles, however, said he’s not focused on the NFL record – or even aware of it. When asked how long he’s known about his record pace, he said, “since just now when you said it.”

“That’d be cool, but it’s not on my mind,” Sproles said. “That’s not my main focus. My main focus is just to help this team win. And that’s all that’s on my mind when I go out there and play.”

Sproles has certainly helped the Saints this year in every way he can. He has 563 rushing yards, 681 receiving yards, 1,035 kickoff return yards, 249 punt return yards and nine total touchdowns. But in his heart, he’s still a tailback first and foremost.

Sproles said he always admired all-purpose stars like former New York Giants dynamo Dave Meggett.

“But my all-time favorite is Barry Sanders,” Sproles said. “That’s who I always tried to be like.”

Morstead, meanwhile, is well aware of his shot at the NFL’s all-time mark for net punting average. For one thing, that’s the number that all NFL punters and special teams coverage units care most about because it takes into account the return yardage. And for another thing, the current record-holder Shane Lechler might be the best punter in NFL history.

Lechler set the record with a net average of 43.85 yards for the Oakland Raiders in 2009. Morstead’s net average this year is 43.1 yards. And the San Francisco 49ers’ Andy Lee has a net average of 43.5.

Morstead already broke one NFL record last week with the kickoff touchbacks – though that tally is inflated a bit because the NFL pushed kickoffs up to the 35-yard line this year, and because the high-scoring Saints kick off so often. The net punting record would be even more special, though.

“That would be really cool,” Morstead said. “We have a chance. We’ve had a couple real good games in a row.”

Not much else going on in the NFL world today.

Thanks to the whims of the NFL scheduling formula, the New Orleans Saints will have to make a second trip to Green Bay to play the Packers next season.

In fact, depending on what happens in the NFC playoffs, next season’s trip could be the Saints’ third to Lambeau Field in a one-year span. Before this year’s season opener on Sept. 8, won by the Packers 42-34, the Saints had played only three games in the hallowed stadium.

The rematch with the Packers will highlight the Saints’ 2012 schedule, of which the opponents have now been determined thanks to the Saints’ NFC South division title.

As usual, the Saints will play home and away games against their three NFC South opponents: Atlanta; Carolina; and Tampa Bay. They’ll also play each team in the NFC East and AFC West, according to the divisional rotation in the scheduling formula.

The league will announce the dates and times for each game when it releases the entire league schedule in April.

Meantime, here are the eight home and road opponents for the Saints in 2012

HOME: Chargers; Chiefs; Eagles; 49ers; Redskins; Buccaneers; Falcons; and Panthers.

AWAY: Broncos; Cowboys; Giants; Packers; Raiders; Buccaneers; Falcons; and Panthers.

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The Saints will play to win Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

Although they could opt to rest some starters in the regular-season finale, Coach Sean Payton said he doesn’t want to give up the Saints’ chance at the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs, and he doesn’t want to mess with the momentum they’ve built during their seven-game win streak.

“We’re playing some of our best football here the last few weeks. There’s some value to that,” said Payton, who said he doesn’t plan to keep an eye on the scoreboard to see what’s happening between the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams at the same time Sunday.

The Saints need the 49ers to lose at St. Louis to have a chance at the No. 2 seed and the first-round playoff bye that comes with it. That’s obviously a long shot, because the Rams are 2-13. But as Payton reminded, the Rams beat the Saints in St. Louis in Week 8.

“I’d hate to make that decision, (then watch the 49ers lose),” Payton said. “Our league is a league where every week, any team that lines up can win. A perfect example is the team we’re talking about is a team that beat us.”

Safety Roman Harper said he’s glad the Saints are playing to win, saying he wouldn’t want to turn off the switch at this point. But he was skeptical that the Rams will be able to hold up their end of the bargain.

He said in their situation, they probably have their bags packed for the offseason already.

“If they really wanted to help us, they wouldn’t have beat us in the first place. That’s how I look at it,” Harper said. “But we really can’t worry about what St. Louis and San Francisco are doing. We can only focus on how we’re going to control Cam Newton and Steve Smith and the Panthers.”

Fearing the injury bug

If Payton had any hesitation about playing his starters this week, it’s because of what the Saints experienced firsthand in Week 17 last season.

The Saints were in the same position, needing a victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons to lose to a struggling Carolina Panthers team in the final week to have a shot at the No. 1 seed. So the Saints played their starters, and they lost three key players to injuries in the first half — tight end Jimmy Graham, safety Malcolm Jenkins and tailback Chris Ivory — before losing the game.

All three players missed the playoff opener at Seattle the next week, which the Saints also lost. And Payton later said that playing his starters in Week 17 was one of his greatest regrets of the season.

Payton said this season is different, though, because the team is well-rested after a Week 10 bye. And, he said, “knock on wood, we’re healthy.”

Quarterback Drew Brees agreed with Payton’s decision to go all-out this week, saying it didn’t work out last season when they were essentially straddling the fence.

“I think we all found ourselves scoreboard-watching a little bit as to what was happening in that other game (last season),” Brees said. “And therefore I feel like, not that we took a step back in that game, but we just didn’t progress. And our mindset is we want to continue to progress and get better. I think there’s things that serve you well in this game if you can continue to stay on the rise as you go into the playoffs, whether they’re just confidence builders or situations that come up that you fight through.

“So I think we’re taking on a little bit different mindset than we did last year at this time in a very similar situation.”

Records within reach

Payton’s decision likely would have been the same under any circumstances this season. But it would have been an awkward choice to bench Brees.

Brees broke the NFL record for passing yards in a season in dramatic fashion Monday night in front of the frenzied crowd at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and a national-television audience. But he remains only 190 yards ahead of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, so he probably needs to add at least another 150 yards or so to secure the record.

Brees said that wasn’t the reason for the decision to play the starters this week. Neither was the team’s chase for the all-time yardage or first downs records, or Graham’s chase for the all-time receiving yardage record for tight ends, or tailback-kick returner Darren Sproles’ chase for the NFL all-purpose yardage record.

“Listen, there’s a lot of records out there that we could potentially set, break, what have you in this game,” Brees said. “I think our mindset, above and beyond that, was, ‘How do we put ourselves in the best position to play well and win in the playoffs?’”

Not that those records aren’t special.

Kudos flow in

Brees was emotional about breaking the passing record Monday night, as were his teammates, coaches, members of the organization and the fan base. He fought back tears as he addressed the team in a postgame speech, sharing the credit with everyone from his receivers to the equipment managers. And he even went out and celebrated with teammates after the game, not part of his usual routine.

“I figure life is too short. You have to appreciate these moments,” said Brees, who figured he received hundreds of phone messages, texts and emails from friends, family and heroes of his own.

One of them, he said, was a hilarious message from Metairie-born entertainer Ellen DeGeneres, who suggested that her coaching and advice had paid off during her visit to the team’s training camp practices in Oxnard, Calif.

Another came from the former record-holder, Dan Marino, whose mark of 5,084 yards had stood since 1984.

“Dan Marino called me yesterday and we talked for a little bit, and that was obviously a very classy move on his part to reach out and tell me congratulations,” Brees said. “We talked for a while. Obviously I have a ton of respect for him, not only what he accomplished as a player, but the way he has handled this whole situation. I heard from him last week saying he was rooting for me.”

Although Brees had tried to compartmentalize his emotions during the record chase, he said he also tried to prepare for what the moment would be like — especially in case it happened during a tense moment in the game.

That wasn’t the case in the Saints’ 45-16 rout of the Falcons, though it did come down to a late drive in the fourth quarter.

“Mid-fourth quarter we felt like the game was in hand, but the record was still out there,” Brees said. “It was obviously important to a lot of people, I know everybody in that stadium and everybody watching, that we did it that night and in the fashion we did it. But I guess the moment itself was surreal. You still kind of pinch yourself that it really happened. But maybe just because we’re so locked in with where we’re at and what we still have to accomplish.

“It’s not necessarily time to reflect. We can do that after the season. We’re thinking about what’s ahead.”

••••••••

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

That’s all for today.

On the back of his 4-touchdown performance Monday night against the Atlanta Falcons, a game in which he broke Dan Marino’s NFL record for passing yardage in a season, Saints quarterback Drew Brees is the NFC’s offensive player of the week, the league announced Wednesday.

In a press release, the NFL outline some of Brees’ accomplishments:

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.