By Pat Yasinskas

Not sure if this is quite Trent Dilfer/Roddy White material, but colleague KC Joyner threw some batting practice for NFC South fans when he wrote that Atlanta’s Matt Ryan has surpassed Drew Brees as the NFC South’s best quarterback.

I’ll let Atlanta and New Orleans fans duke this one out in the comments section. But I will throw in my two cents and admit that in Wednesday’s item about potential NFC South MVPs, I ranked Ryan slightly above Brees. To this point, I think Ryan has had a better season. Like I said in the piece on NFC South MVPs, I think Brees can jump to the top of the list with a strong showing against the Falcons on Monday night.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.

TIME: 08:30 P.M. EST
VENUE: Georgia Dome

After going a month without playing at the Georgia Dome, the Atlanta Falcons are one win away from not having to leave home again until a potential trip to the Super Bowl.

It has been more than a year since their last loss at home, when the New Orleans Saints took advantage of a banged-up Atlanta team.

The surging Falcons look to clinch their first division title in six years and secure home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs Monday night when they host the Saints, who are one win away from a postseason berth.

Playoff-bound Atlanta (12-2) has a two-game lead over New Orleans (10-4) in the NFC South, needing either a victory this week or a home win over lowly Carolina next Sunday to clinch the No. 1 overall seed.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

Soon after the NFL sent out its updated playoff scenarios earlier this afternoon, ESPN Stats & Information sent out a supplemental package. This goes a little beyond the NFL’s package, which was simply limited to clinching scenarios that can happen this week.

I’ve kept this in my back pocket for a few hours because I wanted to give Trent Dilfer, my new all-time favorite player and co-worker, a nice long run in the top spot in the NFC South Blog. But now that Trent’s done some serious traffic directing, we’ll go ahead and move him into the No. 2 slot on the blog.

Read the rest of the story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

BALTIMORE — The fine folks at ESPN Stats & Information just passed along some notes that help explain why the Saints lost to the Ravens on Sunday.

Let’s start with Baltimore’s defensive pressure. In his postgame interview, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees admitted he wound up seeing more pressure than he expected from the Ravens. The numbers backed that up.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

BALTIMORE — In a postgame locker room where there easily could have been talk of frustration, doom or even meetings to plan the return of the Lombardi Trophy, there simply wasn’t.

“If we are a wild-card, then obviously our trip to the Super Bowl is on the road,’’ New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said after a 30-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. “If that’s what we have to do, that’s what we’ll have to do.’’

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS — I’m heading downstairs for interviews and will be back in a bit with much more. But first, here’s Rapid Reaction on the New Orleans Saints’ victory against St. Louis.

What it means: I can’t say it was New Orleans’ best game of the year because the Rams aren’t the best of measuring sticks. But this one was pretty encouraging. The Saints put together a solid game in all areas, which is something they’ve had trouble doing much of the year. If you can do that it December, it’s a pretty good sign that your season is headed in a good direction.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

If the season ended today, the NFC South would have two teams in the playoffs.

The Atlanta Falcons, 10-2, would be the No. 1 seed. The 9-3 New Orleans Saints would be the No. 5 seed and join the 8-4 New York Giants as a wild card team.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.

Pierre Thomas isn’t quite ready to return to the New Orleans Saints.

The running back won’t play Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, a team source told NFL Network’s Kara Henderson, although he should return for next week’s game against the St. Louis Rams.

Thomas didn’t play in New Orleans’ previous eight games while he recovered from a severely sprained left ankle. After Thomas was limited in practice Friday and listed as questionable on the injury report, Saints coach Sean Payton said he was “guarded” about the running back’s prospects of facing the Bengals and would make a game-time decision.

Thomas was the Saints’ leading rusher last season with 793 yards and six touchdowns. An effective receiver on screens and swing passes, Thomas also caught 39 passes for 302 yards and two scores. He capped his 2009 season with touchdowns on screen passes in both the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl.

This season, Thomas had 147 yards and one score on 46 rushes, along with 133 yards on 17 catches, before he suffered his injury at the end of a Week 3 overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

Saints. Running back Pierre Thomas (ankle) officially is questionable and Sean Payton wouldn’t rule out playing him. But the game is outdoors in Cincinnati and snow is possible. Thomas only practiced on a limited basis this week. I’m thinking we still are at least a week away from seeing Thomas.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.