By Pat Yasinskas

With all the NFC South teams done playing games, let’s make one up for ourselves.

It’s real easy. Which playoff loss was worse, Atlanta’s loss to Green Bay on Saturday or New Orleans’ loss to Seattle the week before?

I’ll lay out a brief case for each and then I’ll cast my vote. After that, I want you to cast your votes and debate it out in the comments section below.

Read the rest of the story here.

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Superbowl Home Rentals!

By James Varney, The Times-Picayune

In theory, New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis might have stalked the halls of the team’s Metairie headquarters last week as one bummed-out football executive.

The team he did so much to mold had, one year after its greatest triumph in the Super Bowl, lost a wild-card playoff game in chilly Seattle to one of the biggest underdogs in NFL postseason history. Two days later, his alma mater, the University of Oregon, fell just short of winning its first national championship in football.

But when Loomis discussed the Saints’ 2010 season and what might be ahead in 2011, he seemed energized and excited about his looming offseason assignments.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune

Now that the New Orleans Saints have been eliminated from the playoffs, the cacophony of hammers and drills at the Superdome can begin.

Work will start on the final phase of the remodeling of the Dome on Jan. 24, a five-month project aimed at further sprucing up the building that has undergone massive upgrades since Hurricane Katrina wrecked the 36-year-old venue in 2005.

When construction begins, workers will make drastic changes to the lower bowl of the stadium, reconfiguring it to increase seating by 3,500, widening the plaza concourse, building two bunker club lounges and adding additional concession stands.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Jeff Duncan, The Times-Picayune

In the Sport of Kings, horses often experience sharp declines in performance after a career-best race.

They call it the Bounce Factor, and the theory applies just as well to Super Bowl champions.

For a variety of reasons, NFL teams rarely duplicate championship performances the season after they hoist the Lombardi Trophy. More often, there’s a significant drop in performance the next season, especially when the Super Bowl season tends to be an outlier.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Mike Triplett, The Times-Picayune

Welcome to the offseason of uncertainty.

Nearly half of the 65 players who ended the season on the New Orleans Saints‘ roster or injured reserve list could become free agents. That alone would make for the busiest offseason the team has had since it rebuilt the roster in 2006.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Jason Cole,

1. Drew Brees(notes), New Orleans Saints, 2006: Let’s see: What has Brees meant to not only the Saints, but the entire city of New Orleans? Well, he has been the best quarterback in team history. He has won various offensive player of the year honors, and was named Sports Illustrated Man of the Year and Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year in 2010. Oh yeah, there’s that Super Bowl title he helped win. Then there’s all the charity work he has done to help rebuild the city. Hollywood doesn’t write scripts this corny.

Read the rest of the story here.

Thanks Joey for sending us a picture of Ashlan, a new member of the Who Dat Nation!

By Pat Yasinskas

One of the things I like best about New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees is his ability to look at things and clearly see them as they are.

While Brees admitted he’s disappointed with Saturday’s first-round playoff loss to Seattle, he has a pretty good perspective on the overall season for the Saints in this interview with XX Sports Radio in San Diego.

“I wouldn’t say that this season is a failure, because look at the last 10 teams that have won Super Bowls,’’ Brees said. “Half of them haven’t even gone back to the playoffs the next year.’’

Read the rest of Pats story here.