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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Read more here.

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.

Read more here.

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.

VOTE now for Sproles.. CLICK HERE

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.

CLICK HERE to hear them.