By Pat Yasinskas

If we’ve learned anything about Sean Payton and Mike Smith this season, it’s that neither coach likes to use the brakes.

Whether it’s Payton leaving Drew Brees in during a blowout win against the Falcons on Monday night or Smith going for it on fourth-and-inches in overtime against the Saints earlier in the season, both coaches have demonstrated aggressive styles.

That’s why it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that Payton said the Saints will play their starters in Sunday’s season finale against the Carolina Panthers and Smith said the Falcons will do the same against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Being aggressive is a big part of the reason the Saints and Falcons already have clinched playoff berths. But maybe it’s time for Payton and Smith to take their feet off the accelerator, just for a bit.

Read the rest of the story here.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 30th, 2011 at 4:17 pm and is filed under National News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.