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.

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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.

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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.

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By Pat Yasinskas

I’ve written many times, including earlier Thursday, that New Orleans Saints running back/return man Darren Sproles has turned out to be the best free-agent signing of 2011.

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By Pat Yasinskas

We’ve got some very significant injury news out of New Orleans and updates on other injuries of note all around the NFC South.

New Orleans running back Mark Ingram, who has missed the past three games with a toe injury, suffered what coach Sean Payton called a setback in his recovery. Ingram aggravated the injury when he returned to practice Wednesday and did not practice Thursday. Receiver Lance Moore (hamstring) missed his second straight day of practice. On the bright side, safety Malcolm Jenkins (neck) and linebacker Jonathan Vilma returned to practice on a limited basis after sitting out Wednesday.

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Great video of Drew setting the record and comments from the MNF crew.

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By Pat Yasinskas

The decision by New Orleans coach Sean Payton to leave Drew Brees in and continue throwing late in Monday night’s victory against Atlanta is drawing lots of criticism.

Brees broke Dan Marino’s record for passing yards in a season with a little over two minutes left in a 45-16 victory. The fact Brees was still in a game that was long over has some critics saying Payton broke an unwritten rule.

Two writers I know and respect enormously took issue with Payton’s decision. Pete Prisco writes that Brees’ record is tainted due to the circumstances under which it was finalized. Jason Cole writes that leaving Brees in the game and scoring a late touchdown wasn’t very classy.

I recognized both points and I’m generally opposed to anyone running up the score. I haven’t always agreed with everything Payton does and don’t disagree all that much when people say he’s arrogant or aggressive.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

By Dan Hanzus

With Drew Brees a mere 30 yards away from breaking the single-season passing yards record, Saints coach Sean Payton was presented with an interesting dilemma.

Brees was playing on “Monday Night Football” in front of his home fans and a national TV audience, a perfect stage to take down Dan Marino’s 27-year old record. But the Saints also had their game against the Falcons well in hand, up 38-16 with less than three minutes to play.

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NEW ORLEANS — Quite a night for Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints — a record and a rout.

Brees set the NFL record for yards passing in a season, breaking a mark that Dan Marino had held for nearly three decades, and New Orleans clinched the NFC South title with a 45-16 victory over the Falcons.

Brees threw for 307 yards and four touchdowns, the last a 9-yard strike to Darren Sproles that set the record with 2:51 to go.

“Honestly, I was really trying not to think about the record or anything,” Brees said. “I knew we were close. A couple guys mentioned stuff to me on the sideline. I didn’t want to hear it. It’s like a pitcher with a no-hitter, I guess.”

It was Brees’ final pass of the game and it gave him 5,087 yards passing — with one game still to play. Marino finished with 5,084 yards for the Miami Dolphins in 1984.

Minutes after Brees broke the record, Marino offered congratulations on his Twitter account.

“Great job by such a special player,” Marino wrote.

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By Pete Prisco

NEW ORLEANS — The kid got his wish.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees broke the NFL single-season record for passing yards, breaking Dan Marino’s single-season mark of 5,084 yards with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Darren Sproles in the Saints’ 45-16 dismantling of the Atlanta Falcons Monday night.

“I kind of got emotional before the game,” Brees said. “There was a kid as I was signing autographs who said, ‘I’m here to see you break the record.’ It made me think of when I was a kid.”

This is one of those where-were-you moments, another snapshot of life being permanently etched into our memories. It’s kind of funny that a man throws for over 5,000 yards and the pass that broke the record traveled only 9 yards in the air.

“It’s a special night,” Saints coach Sean Payton said.

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