The New Orleans Saints have agreed to terms with Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator Thursday, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

This is a big victory for the Saints because I’m pretty sure Spagnuolo is the guy Sean Payton had targeted for this job, probably even before previous coordinator Gregg Williams left for St. Louis and a reunion with Jeff Fisher after the Saints lost in the playoffs.

If you want a picture of a Spagnuolo defense, don’t think too much about the St. Louis team he had been the head coach of since 2009.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

During the Countdown Live chat throughout Saturday’s playoff game between New Orleans and San Francisco, many of you were wondering why the hit on Saints running back Pierre Thomas by 49ers defensive back Donte Whitner didn’t result in a penalty.

Thomas

It was clearly a helmet-to-helmet hit. The play came deep in San Francisco territory in the first quarter. Thomas fumbled the ball as soon as he was hit and the 49ers recovered.

Read more about the hit here.

Now that the season officially is over for all four NFC South teams, we can start looking ahead to the 2012 draft.

Take a look at this Insider post by Steve Muench, which talks about two undersized quarterbacks — Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson. Both are listed at just a shade under 6-foot.

Any time you talk about undersized quarterbacks, you have to start with New Orleans’ Drew Brees, because he has proven that you don’t have to be 6-4 or 6-5 to succeed. Brees is listed right at 6-foot, and that might be a bit generous.

But Brees is a perfect fit in coach Sean Payton’s offensive scheme. The Saints obviously don’t believe you need a tall quarterback, because backup Chase Daniel also is listed at 6-foot.

Read more of Pat’s story here

Thoughts on the New Orleans Saints’ 36-32 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday at Candlestick Park.

What it means: You can’t defy conventional wisdom. In a game that will go down as a postseason classic, the Saints broke almost every rule and tradition. But they still lost in the end, as tight end Vernon Davis scored a touchdown with 9 seconds remaining. That capped a game that had four lead changes in the final 3 minutes, 53 seconds. The Saints came painfully close to proving they could win on the road, outdoors and in the postseason. They almost showed you can turn the ball over five times and still win. They also came close to proving wrong the old adage that defense wins championships. But there were no miracles this time.

Read more of Pat’s story here.

Drew Brees is capable of many great things. But you can’t go to the miracle well 63 times in a game and expect it to produce every time.

That was proved Saturday as Brees and the New Orleans Saints lost 36-32 in a divisional playoff game to the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

History will tell us this was one of the best games in playoff annals, coming as it did with four lead changes in the final 5 minutes and San Francisco’s winning touchdown with 9 seconds remaining. History will be right, because this game was exciting all the way around.

But the surrounding hysteria might get in the way of history, so let’s go ahead and go on the record with one very important item that cannot be overlooked: You can’t go deep into the postseason with Brees and Brees alone.

Read the rest of Pat’s story here.

Well make sure you check out her FaceBook page during the game for lots of info!

CLICK HERE to go to her page.

	The Saints’ defense has been stingy at times this season. But it needs more consistency to win a title.

For two full seasons now, Drew Brees has been showing up for games with a kid brother in tow.

We’re talking about the New Orleans Saints’ defense. It’s just good enough to go out there and stand on the field while Brees is on the sideline. But it’s not nearly good enough to win games on its own.

Brees and the offense have done the heavy lifting last season and this season, and the Saints have won a lot of games. But, if the Saints are going to get back to being Super Bowl champions like they were in the 2009 season, the little brother is going to have to grow up in a hurry and carry his weight.

Maybe it comes in Saturday’s divisional-round playoff game at San Francisco. Maybe it comes in the NFC Championship Game, or maybe it comes in the Super Bowl.

Read more here.

ESPN.com

The New Orleans Saints didn’t get much healthier as they went through practice Thursday before leaving for San Francisco.

Receiver Lance Moore (hamstring) missed another day of practice. Tight end John Gilmore (toe) and linebacker Jonathan Vilma (knee) also did not practice.

Strong safety Roman Harper (ankle) did return to practice but only on a limited basis. Linebacker Jonathan Casillas (knee) also was limited. Receiver Robert Meachem also is listed on the report with a knee injury, but he has participated in practice each of the past two days.

Drinking Alcohol In Public Actually Legal, Excise Police Say

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis may feel more like Las Vegas during the Super Bowl because people will be allowed to publicly drink outside of bars, authorities said.Indiana excise police said there’s actually no law in place forbidding drinking alcohol in public as long as the person drinking is 21 and not already intoxicated.”You can take a drink outside of a bar, if it’s in the original container that it’s served in,” excise police spokesman Travis Thickstun said.

Read more here!