The Saints have released 31-year old DE Charles Grant.  He played all 16 games for the Saints last season and he made 44 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, he had 5.5 sacks, forced 1 fumble and he defensed 2 passes.  Grant played in 118 games in his 8 years with the Saints and he finished up with 424 tackles, 47 sacks, 31 passes defensed, 16 forced fumbles and 1 sack.  Despite Grant getting older the Saints will miss him because he’s a playmaker.

The Saints have released 33-year old linebacker Mark Simoneau.  Simoneau has not played in either of the last two seasons due to injury.  Simoneau played in 32 games in his time with the Saints in which he made 131 tackles, defensed 2 passes, he had 3 sacks and 1 interception.  The Saints won’t miss Simoneau much as he hasn’t played in a couple of years.

The Saints have released 33-year old offensive guard Justin Nesbit.  Nesbit played in 13 games (0 starts) for the Saints last season.  In six years with the Saints, Nesbit played in 84 games (43 starts).  The Saints will likely find a young and cheaper replacement for Nesbit in either free agency or the draft.

The New Orleans Saints are heading to their first Super Bowl trip in franchise history after winning a close game in overtime against the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game.  The Saints’ 23-year-old kicker Garrett Hartley hit a 40-yard field goal in overtime to send the Saints to the Super Bowl.  The Saints offense had a solid game, but the defense had more to do with this win than their potent offense.  Although they gave up a ton of yards (475 total yards), they forced 6 fumbles (recovering 3 of them) and picked off quarterback Brett Favre twice.  One of those interceptions could not have come at a bigger moment in the game.  After the Vikings were pushed out of field goal range with under a minute to play in regulation, the Vikings needed to make a play to get themselves back into their kicker’s range.  Brett Favre rolled out to his right, and tried to throw across his body to the middle of the field, when Tracy Porter easily jumped in front of it and picked it off.  This ended the Vikings chances at winning in regulation and sent the game into overtime.  The Saints one the toss and Drew Brees got the Saints into field goal range and the rest was history.

Drew Brees and the Saints offense didn’t total very many yards, only getting 257 total yards.  What they did do well is manage the game and take care of the ball.  The Saints only had 1 turnover, as compared to the Vikings 5, so it didn’t matter that the Vikings had over 200 yards more than them on offense.  Reggie Bush did not have the game he had last week, and was not effective running the ball (8 yards on 7 carries).  He did catch 2 passes for 33 yards, including a touchdown so he still made an impact.  Pierre Thomas ran the ball well, rushing for 61 yards and 1 touchdown on 14 carries.  This was a huge win for the Saints and probably the most important win in franchise history.  Now they have to worry about Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, who they will square off against in the Super Bowl on February 7th in Miami.

The New Orleans Saints are trying to make it to their first Super Bowl, but they need to get through Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings first.  The Superdome should provide the Saints with some great home-field advantage and they are a much better team at home in that dome.  Drew Brees should be able to put some points on the board, but he will be getting a lot of pressure from a very strong Vikings’ defensive line.  Jared Allen leads that defense so Brees may need to get rid of the ball quicker than usual.  That means they could use some of those deadly screens and run the ball more with Reggie Bush.  Bush had one of the best games of his career and it wasn’t just his stats, it was the way he ran it.  He ran the ball with a physicality that he has lacked most of his NFL career, gaining 84 yards and a touchdown on only 5 carries.  He also had a punt return for a touchdown and caught four passes for 24 yards.  I think he can be the difference-maker against the Vikings and their strong aggressive defense.

Drew Brees had the best QB rating in the regular season, but Brett Favre was right behind him in the number two spot.  Favre has been playing some of the best football of his career, which is saying a lot since he is a future hall-of-famer.  The Saints need to make sure they get some pressure on Favre or he will hurt them.  They cannot forget about Adrian Peterson either, as the Vikings are likely going to run it a lot since the Saints give up 122 rushing yards per game.  This could be a very high-scoring game with both teams having such good offenses.  I am going with the Saints though, they have more playmakers and the Superdome will be buzzing.

PREDICTION:  New Orleans Saints 31, Minnesota Vikings 28