That's right. I am strongly urging the NFL should take a page from the NCAA manual and suspend the New Orleans Saints football operations for a period of one season. They need to give them the SMU treatment. Make them gone. Off the grid. Stadium dark. No draft picks on April 26 through 28. No camp this summer. No exhibition games. No regular-season games.

For one year, they basically cease to exist.

"Despite being a sixth seed a year ago, the Green Bay Packers run to the title wasn't a surprise for those that were paying attention. And those paying attention this year have their eyes on the New Orleans Saints."

Another take on why the Saints will win the Super Bowl.

"The Saints will beat the Ravens in the Super Bowl. May as well start off with a prediction bound to lead to angry responses, right? This one's not so much an indictment of the Packers, who might be on the verge of becoming a dynasty again, as it is an admission that the Saints are really, really good. Almost all of that confidence comes from Drew Brees' continued spectacular performance. The Saints took Green Bay to the wire in Week 1. On the other side of things, even with the AFC road likely going through New England, the Steelers and Ravens have the best mixes of offense and defense. Baltimore has had Pittsburgh's number this season and looks poised to take the AFC North crown. That means the Steelers might have to win in Batimore to get to the Super Bowl, which the Ravens won't allow."

Of all the things that sports stars could be doing on their day off, Saints CB Tracy Porter hauls furniture.

This is the kind of story that makes me feel good about rooting for the Saints and its players. Winning is awesome, but to read about players doing things like this is amazing.

"In checking the latest Super Bowl odds online recently, I saw what had to be a mistake.

The Saints are 16/1 to win this year’s NFL title? Where’s my credit card..."

"...it should really come as no surprise that the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots are the preseason favorites for Super Bowl XLVI..."

"Drew is not a guy that would put himself above any type of team negotiations," Sharper said. "He's going to do what's best for the whole group and never worry about himself."

"As of this writing, team owners and the players’ union are behind closed doors with a federal mediator. And nobody’s talking to the press....you’ll hear from a variety of NFL insiders, including:...couple of NFL players: Drew Brees, the MVP of last year’s Super Bowl (and a member of the union’s executive committee)...."

If you don't already listen... you should check it out- the Freakonomics podcasts are free from itunes.

Spread: New Orleans -10.5
Wazny says: Saints both ways. The Giants and Buccaneers, both out of the post-season despite their 10-6 records, hung 41 and 38 points on the Seahawks earlier this year. Forget about the long travel or the fact the Saints have never won a road playoff game -- Brees should have the spread covered off by halftime.

"It’s funny when you think about it. After all those years of being the "Aints" and underachieving, the Saints' 9-3 record is being picked apart the year after winning the Super Bowl. At any other point in franchise history, 9-3 would be celebrated. Now you have the skeptics and critics wondering if there’s enough offense, questioning the defense, thinking New Orleans cannot be considered elite and go deep in the playoffs."

Nice article about the Saints flying below the radar.

"So what do you do when you are made to feel you saved the world, when the celebration goes on and on and on and you realize this is probably the most meaningful Super Bowl victory a city has ever had? How do you make it better?"

WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN

From St. Louis Today - What must the Rams do to slow down Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints this weekend?

Some of their writers give their thoughts.

Came across this article, but it doesn't really explicate why the Eagles wouldn't want to play us but would be will to play off with some of the other teams. Anyone have some insight to this?

Post from Dallas Morning Star regarding the potential problems with Dallas covering the Saints Receiving Corps. Saints deeper at the WO position that most teams are at the DB position.

Add in a slew of pass catching backs and tight ends, this should turn out to be a favorable match up for the Saints.

"The New Orleans Saints ranked fourth in the NFL in passing on the way to their first Lombardi Trophy last season. They rank fourth again this year.

Their success is a product of sheer numbers – the Saints go deeper in quality receivers than defenses go in quality cover men. Quarterback Drew Brees has the patience and precision to find the open man – and there always seems to be an open man."

"Let’s discuss this for a moment, because I do see Bush’s return to the lineup as a major upgrade to Sean Payton, Drew Bress and this New Orleans' offense. Forget about numbers or the box score, because when you have a dynamic player like Bush on the field, the game plan—and the play calling—will change. That is the advantage we are talking about for the Saints moving forward."

I hope he does make a huge impact this week!

1 Drew Brees, Saints: Leapfrogged over Peyton Manning by outdueling him in the Super Bowl.

2 Peyton Manning, Colts: 366 career TD passes and still going strong.

The New Orleans Saints may have what it takes to pull off a narrow victory over the Indianapolis Colts at Super Bowl XLIV, according to a simulation of the big game on "Madden NFL 10" for the Xbox 360.

UPSET SPECIAL: CARDINALS, 38-35

Let's hope not!

Stats show a pretty dramatic difference between the first 11 games and the final 5 games of the season. I'm hoping our Saints play like the first 11.

The theory has been thrown out there quite a bit that the Saints peaked too early, hitting their high point in a victory against New England. They followed that win with two close victories before losing each of their last three games.

Here's a sobering statistic for Saints fans to chew on as the playoffs open: New Orleans led the NFL in scoring this season with a franchise-record 510 points, but the last team to lead the league in that department and win the Super Bowl was the 1999 Rams. Throughout the decade of the 2000s, no Super Bowl winner even led their conference in points scored, let alone the league. The only scoring leaders to even get to the Super Bowl this decade were the 2001 Rams (503 points) and the 2007 Patriots (589).

Bush may be the most dangerous element of the New Orleans offense because the Saints can dictate all of his matchups. So he causes the most headaches. He's an all-the-time concern on game day.