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. 

The New Orleans Saints placed running back Mark Ingram and linebacker Will Herring on the injured reserve list on Tuesday.

The moves are expected to be announced by Saints Coach Sean Payton at his press briefing later today.

Offensive gaurd Eric Olsen and linebacker Nate Bussey are expected to take the rosters spots created by the transactions. Olsen was signed from the Washington Redskins practice squad. Bussey was promoted from the Saints practice squad.

Ingram is expected to have season-ending surgery on Wednesday to repair a toe injury he suffered earlier this season and aggravated in practice last week.

Herring suffered an undisclosed injury in the Saints’ 45-17 win against the Panthers on Sunday.

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.”

Posted: Tuesday, January 03, 2012, 9:19 AM

Following their eighth consecutive win, New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith talks about how the team is playing going into the playoffs.

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—If Sean Payton’s New Orleans Saints are inclined to
reflect back on anything from 2011, it’s not so much their recently concluded
record-breaking regular season as their disappointing first-round playoff loss
to Seattle last January.

“You understand in our game that when you line up in the postseason,
there’s a finality to it,” Payton said Monday as the Saints began preparations
for their playoff opener against Detroit.

“There’s a lot of things that were positive and a lot of things that were
accomplished with the season we just had, and yet the reason you try to win as
many games as you can is to prepare yourself for what we’re getting ready to
accomplish now,” Payton continued. “I don’t think you reflect now. You are
still driven by the challenge ahead.”

The 2011 Saints might be better than the 2009 team that won the Super Bowl.
Both were 13-3 in the regular season, and this season’s squad set several NFL
and franchise records, mostly on offense.

The Saints 7,474 offensive yards set a new league mark by 399 yards. Drew
Brees’ 5,476 yards passing was the most for any quarterback by more than 200
yards, while his 468 completions and 71.2 completion rate also set new league
highs. Darren Sproles’ 2,696 combined yards rushing, receiving and on returns
also established a new NFL single-season best.

Those records were only a sampling of the history New Orleans made this
season, though all that will mean a lot less if they suffer an early exit from
the playoffs.

Last season, the Saints won 11 games and were expected to roll past a
Seahawks squad that was the first division winner in NFL history with a losing
record. The Seahawks wound up celebrating an upset, and the Saints like to think
now that they learned from it.

“It helps that you’ve been through it and experienced a tough loss in a
game you were expected to win in a crucial time,” safety Roman Harper said.
“If you don’t show up and play with a sense of urgency and discipline, a team
can beat you. … If you don’t come prepared with a sense of urgency, you will
get your tail kicked in this league.”

The Saints have been building momentum for two months now, winning eight
straight games, including six by double digits. They’ve outscored their last
three opponents 132-53 combined. Two of those victories came against division
foes who had been playing well lately in Atlanta and Carolina.

On Sunday against the Panthers, the Saints could have begun resting starters
early in the second half, when their chances of improving their No. 3 seeding
diminished as second-seed San Francisco pulled away from St. Louis. Instead, the
Saints chose an aggressive approach that turned a one-score halftime lead into a
45-17 blowout.

In the process, they solidified their credentials as a playoff favorite,
even if they didn’t get a top-two seeding in the NFC and will have to win three
postseason games to get back to the Super Bowl.

“Sean’s been saying for a couple of weeks now that if we just continue to
play like we’re playing and continue in the path we’re on, that a lot of teams
are not going to want to face us,” Harper said. “You can say that now, but
then if we go out and lose a game, it doesn’t really mean anything.”

Saints right tackle Zach Strief also was guarded about the significance of
the Saints’ recent sting of lopsided wins.

“This is a game that can turn quickly on you,” Strief said. “Us playing
well the last few weeks doesn’t give us anything but confidence going in. It
doesn’t give us a win.”

Payton said he was happy to see his players being recognized both for
individual and team records. For now, though, his message to his players is that
they need to maintain the team chemistry that helped them win big lately and
forget about the accolades already accrued—at least until the postseason ends.

“It’s such a team sport,” Payton said. “It seems like the last two weeks
there’s been a lot of talk about individual accomplishments, as there should be
with the passing record, Darren Sproles. … (But) this is the time of year when
the focus really shifts to us playing our best football as a team.”