By Pat Yasinskas

The depth the New Orleans Saints accumulated at running back is looking more important than ever as the team gets ready to enter the playoffs.

For a lot of teams, news like the reports that rookie running back Mark Ingram will have toe surgery and miss the postseason would be devastating. For the Saints, it’s not that big a deal.

That’s a big difference from last season, when the Saints had a bunch of injuries and basically ran out of running backs in the postseason. That was a major reason New Orleans lost to Seattle in the postseason.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

New Orleans Saints linebacker Nate Bussey tweeted that he will be promoted to the active roster from the practice squad.

The rookie who was drafted in the seventh round out of Illinois has been on the practice squad all season.

The Saints have not confirmed the transaction and remains who’s roster spot he’ll be taking.

Bussey is one of two players expected to be named to the team’s 53-man roster, the Saints reportedly signed guard Eric Olsen from the Washington Redskins practice squad. At least one spot is expected to be open if running back Mark Ingram will be placed on injured reserve because of the toe surgery.

Saw this on Facebook earlier.. Love it !

By BRETT MARTEL, AP Sports Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Drew Brees set a merciless tone with relentless, aggressive, pinpoint passing and the New Orleans Saints shrugged off injury risks, barreling into the postseason with an all-out effort.

“Every facet of our offense is clicking right now, but yet you’re constantly finding ways to advance it,” Brees said. “We’ve raised the bar for ourselves. We have a high level of expectations, and we’re just trying to meet that level.”

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

Read more here.

By Pat Yasinskas

Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints‘ 45-17 victory against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

What it means: The Saints tied the 2009 team for the best record in franchise history at 13-3. They also are in as the No. 3 seed in the NFC playoffs, assuming San Francisco defeats St. Louis, and they’ll play the No. 6 seed, which will be either Detroit or Atlanta. The Panthers finished their season at 6-10 and in third place in the NFC South.

Icing on the cake: Drew Brees added another 389 yards to his record for passing yards in a season. Darren Sproles set a new NFL record for all-purpose yards, and Jimmy Graham passed Kellen Winslow’s record for receiving yards in a season by a tight end.

Read more here.

The New Orleans Saints will host the Detroit Lions in the first round of the NFL playoffs Saturday at 7 p.m., the league announced Sunday night. The Houston Texans will host the Cincinnati Bengals at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Sunday matchups will feature the Atlanta Falcons at the Dallas Cowboys/New York Giants winner at noon, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Denver Broncos at 3:30 p.m.

The divisional round schedule is as follows:

Saturday, Jan. 14, 3:30 p.m.: Saints/Dallas-N.Y.Giants/Atlanta at San Francisco

Saturday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m.: Denver/Pittsburgh/Cincinnati at New England

Sunday, Jan. 15, noon: Houston/Denver/Pittsburgh at Baltimore

Sunday, Jan. 15, 3:30 p.m.: Dallas-N.Y. Giants/Atlanta/Detroit at Green Bay

Drew Brees hit Darren Sproles for a 9-yard touchdown pass to give the New Orleans Saints a 45-17 lead against Carolina with 12:15 left in the game.
The drive went 68 yards on seven plays in 3:50.
Sproles is closing in on the NFL record for all purpose yards. The records just keep coming for the Saints.