By BRETT MARTEL, AP Sports Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Having shed their long-held reputation for losing with bumbling ineptitude, the New Orleans Saints open the playoffs as the Super Bowl contenders they expected to be.

Maybe even a little better.

Drew Brees broke some of the most prestigious passing records there are and the Saints (13-3) matched their franchise-best regular-season record from their 2009 Super Bowl campaign while also going unbeaten at home for the first time in their 45-year history.

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By Pat Yasinskas

Three nuggets of knowledge about Saturday’s Lions-Saints playoff game:

The Graham Factor: You can make the case that New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham isn’t really a tight end. He might be more of a wide receiver in a tight end’s body and that’s going to create matchup problems for the Lions. Linebackers don’t have the speed to stay with Graham and defensive backs don’t have enough size to shut him down. Graham finished the regular season just one reception short of becoming the third tight end in history to have 100 catches in a season. Of Graham’s 11 touchdowns, nine came on passes outside the yardage numbers on the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That was a league high among all receivers and four more touchdowns than the next tight end.

To read the rest of Pat’s story click here.

Jen Floyd Engel

The idea being floated in some sporting circles Sunday — that Green Bay backup quarterback Matt Flynn had torpedoed Aaron Rodgers‘ MVP chances by playing beyond good — is preposterous. Drew Brees already did that in December.

Blasphemy, right?

How can I possibly make an MVP case for anybody except Rodgers?

I am not making a case, not really. Voting has ceased. I can influence nobody. I just want, when everybody starts talking about how Rodgers was the logical choice for MVP, for at least a few people to say, “Yeah, about that …”

The statistical case for the New Orleans quarterback is actually quite easy to make. It is built on a 13-3 record and 5,476 passing yards (breaking Dan Marino’s single-season record) and 46 TDs. Of course, Rodgers had gaudy numbers as well, 14-1, 122.5 passer rating, 68.3 completion percentage, blah, blah, blah.

They can stat whip just about anybody in the NFL, aside from Matthew Stafford. And for anybody arguing that Brees’ stats were just a result of going for a record, go join the Atlanta Falcons in shoving right off.

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Matt Crossman

Tracy Porter has that Monday-after-a-game look. He gets out of the SUV that drops him off at Chophouse in New Orleans and walks gingerly, like if he fell he’d break into a million pieces. He has a cast on one hand and a brace on the other.

But if happy memories can make pain go away, Porter is in luck. He is here to talk about the biggest play in New Orleans Saints history—his interception return for a touchdown that sealed the team’s first Super Bowl victory two years ago.

But before getting to that, a story from dinner: Porter orders a steak medium well, emphasis on well and asks the waiter, “Can I have a huge favor?” He asks for the steak to be delivered cut up—it would be hard if not impossible to do it himself with two bad hands. The waiter, a 20-something man who has given no indication he recognizes Porter, says, “I remember an interception from a couple years ago that equals all the favors you want.”

Saints could be without Lance Moore

It looks like there’s a growing chance the New Orleans Saints might have to play their wild-card playoff game against Detroit without wide receiver Lance Moore.

He missed his second straight day of practice with a hamstring injury. Moore missed the regular-season finale. The Saints have good depth at wide receiver as Marques Colston, Robert Meachem and Devery Henderson are all capable of handling lots of playing time. But the Saints like to work with different personnel groupings and that could mean an increased role for Adrian Arrington, who does not have a lot of experience.

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By Brian Billick

As Mark Twain was fond of saying, “There are lies, damn lies, and statistics.” People can use statistics to serve whatever argument they might want to support. Coaches are the first to dismiss statistics as irrelevant to the game. They often say that the only meaningful statistic is total points scored or surrendered.

Of course, coaches usually make such arguments in defense of poor statistical rankings in one form or another. The same coaches who scorn statistics when their teams are performing poorly will wear you out with talk of third-down conversions, yards per attempt and turnover differential when their teams are performing well in those areas.

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By Pat Yasinskas

The final edition of ESPN.com’s Power Rankings is out and two NFC South teams finished in the top 10.

The New Orleans Saints are No. 2 and the Atlanta Falcons are No. 7. The Saints finished behind only the Green Bay Packers and that’s fair enough. The Packers went 15-1 and defeated the Saints in the season opener.

But I will throw out the fact that I think the Saints are the hottest team in the league right now. I’m not saying they will beat Green Bay if they meet again in the postseason. But I think the Saints are at least capable of winning that game.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

In yet another way, it looks like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees were pretty much even this season.

According to Total QBR, Rodgers and Brees were by far the two best quarterbacks in the league in 2011. There was only the slightest difference between them.

Rodgers finished the season with an 85.2 Total QBR and Brees was second in the league at 84.0. After that, there was a big drop to third place — Tom Brady at 74.2 and Tony Romo (70.1) were the only other quarterbacks above 70.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

By Pat Yasinskas

Three things to know about next weekend’s New Orleans Saints–Detroit Lions wild-card game.

1. Saints need to ride their momentum. New Orleans has not lost since an Oct. 30 game at St. Louis, and the Saints have looked dominant in that time. Their offense has been unstoppable and quarterback Drew Brees has taken his game to another level. Coach Sean Payton played his starters into the fourth quarter against Carolina on Sunday because he wanted to continue to build momentum. Mission accomplished. The Saints are playing as well as anyone in the league. Although they didn’t get a first-round bye, their mindset is that they can beat anyone.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

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.