By Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune

December 21, 2009, 1:53PM

Season-ticket holders wasted little time in snatching up all the available seats.

The 13-1 Saints clinched the NFC South title and a playoff berth Dec. 6 against the Washington Redskins, and they secured a first-round by the following week when they beat the Falcons.

“The Saints are pleased to announce that all playoff tickets have been purchased by season-ticket holders, so the Superdome will be at capacity for the postseason. By winning the NFC South title, the Saints have a first-round bye and will host an NFC Divisional Playoff Game the weekend of Jan. 16-17,” the Saints said in a statement.

By Kevin Spain, The Times-Picayune

December 19, 2009, 10:30PM

At least when the New Orleans Saints finally did go down, they went down swinging.

After playing poorly for three quarters, the Saints put together a good fourth quarter, scored 14 points and were in striking distance of scoring another seven, but in the end it was too little, too late and the Dallas Cowboys leave the Big Easy with a 24-17 win, keeping their playoff hopes alive and finishing the talk of a Saints undefeated season.

A Drew Brees fumble on a sack with :06 remaining ended the game and the Saints hopes for perfection.

The Saints still have two games to clinch the top seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs if they beat Tampa Bay next Sunday and Minnesota loses one off its next three games, or if the Saints win the next two.

Dallas quarterback Tony Romo was 24-of-32 for 312 yards and a touchdown. He played a great game, leading his team well. Defensively the Saints finished strong after a slow start, but did get fortunate that the Cowboys missed a field goal at the end.

Brees was 29-of-45 for 298 yards and a touchdown. He also had an intereception and a fumble.

Read more of the story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS — Mike Triplett has a very good story about how Sean Payton has matured as a coach and I’d like to elaborate on this a bit because this is one topic that hasn’t been talked about enough in this magical season for the Saints.

If you followed the Saints closely last year and have done the same this year, you’ve seen very visible growth by Payton. He certainly wasn’t a bad coach before, but the maturity we’ve seen from Payton this year has helped him emerge as a top-notch coach.

The thing that’s impressed me most about Payton this year has been his willingness to adapt — that’s been a fatal flaw for a lot of other coaches. Payton had to make some very tough decisions after last year’s disappointing 8-8 season.

He knew he had to do something about a defense that was bad last year. He fired coordinator Gary Gibbs and brought in Gregg Williams. The results there speak for themselves.

Read more of the story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

t has been nearly four full seasons now, more than enough time for a verdict on Reggie Bush.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft has precisely one 100-yard rushing game in his career and that came in his rookie season. He has only two career games in which he’s carried the ball 20 times and he has carrried more than 10 times in only one game this season. He’s missed 12 career games because of injuries and never really has come close to what he did back in his days as a Heisman Trophy winner at USC.

Time to call him a bust?

No, don’t do it. If you do, you’re missing the big picture. Don’t call Bush a bust and, please, don’t call him a running back. The Saints finally have discovered that tag doesn’t really apply to Bush.

Read more of this story here.

By Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune

December 17, 2009, 10:39PM

Maryland resident Bill Harris had no idea that fame was stalking when he attended the Saints/Redskins game with his son on Dec. 6. He wasn’t aware that television cameras panning the crowd had captured his spirited support of the boys in black and gold. Nor was he aware that his unconventional charms had inspired a fan Web site and won him thousands of Facebook devotees, who considered him the unbeaten Saints’ anonymous mascot and were eagerly seeking his identity.

Earlier this week Harris’ niece Holly Wallace called radio station Mix 92.3 to reveal the identity of her Uncle Bill, who had lived in New Orleans from the age of 12 to 21, and become a lifelong Saints fan. On Thursday morning Harris appeared by telephone on the Mike and Stacey in the Morning show, where he discussed his unexpected stardom.

Read more about the unknown who dat, click here.

By Peter Finney, Times-Picayune

December 18, 2009, 4:00AM

What can an owner do for his head coach?

If you’re Tom Benson, you tell Sean Payton you’re going to lay off ice cream, “cones of just plain ‘ol vanilla,” at least until the end of the season.

If you’re under the impression that a 13-0 record came about because of all those touchdown passes Drew Brees has thrown to an assortment of receivers, because of all those interceptions Darren Sharper has run back into the end zone, think again.

It’s all a matter of the owner telling the coach, “if I hold up my end, you hold up yours.”

Well, so far, so good.

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, center, his wife, Gayle, left, and granddaughter Rita Benson LeBlanc celebrate the Saints beating the New York Giants 48-27 in the Superdome on Oct. 18.

Read more of the story here.

By Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune

December 17, 2009, 11:00PM

In the offseason months after the hiring of Gregg Williams as defensive coordinator,  all the talk and hoopla surrounding the New Orleans Saints was how Williams was going to turn around the moribund unit.

Then during the first 11 weeks of the season,  his defense responded emphatically with a new aggressive attitude and forced opposing offenses into many mistakes.

But in the past two games,  signs of wear appear to be surfacing on a banged-up unit that has had to play without its starting cornerbacks and its starting strongside linebacker.

Read more of the story here.

If the New Orleans Saints are going to have a perfect regular season, there’s a growing chance they’ll have to wait several hours longer.

Multiple sources around the NFC South and the NFL say there is a strong chance the Saints’ final regular-season game, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start in Carolina, could be “flexed’’ to a Sunday night game, which will be the final game of the season for the entire NFL because there is no Monday night game that week.

Read more of the story from Pat Yasinskas here !