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Somehow, and I’m still trying to figure exactly how, the New Orleans Saints have been dragged into yet another controversy.

Baltimore coach John Harbaugh was doing an interview with a local radio station Tuesday morning. Harbaugh was asked a question about the Saints’ bounty program and the general concept of cheating throughout the NFL.

Harbaugh didn’t say a thing about the Saints. Instead, he turned his answer toward the New England Patriots, who had their own controversy with Spygate several years ago.

“In the end, everything is brought before the light of day, when it’s all said and done,” Harbaugh said in the interview. “What happens, even the thing in New England, no matter whether those things had any impact on whether they won their championships or not, they got asterisks now. It’s been stained."

That set off a firestorm in New England, and the Ravens quickly moved into damage-control mode. The Ravens just sent out a statement from Harbaugh. Although the Saints didn’t get mentioned in his on-air words, they do get mentioned in Harabaugh’s latest statement.

“While on the 98 Rock show this morning to talk about the run to honor O.J. Brigance and raise funds for ALS research, I answered a question about playing within the rules and referred to the perception that the Super Bowl championships won by the Patriots and Saints have a stain,’’ Harbaugh said. “My reference was to the perception out there that came as the result of the league’s actions. I could have been more clear that I was referring to those viewpoints. I totally believe that the Patriot and Saint coaches and players earned those championships. Bill (Belichick) and Sean (Payton) both know that. There has been some distortion about what I said.

“The original tweet indicated I pointed the finger at Bill Belichick and mentioned Bill’s name. I did not. I have so much respect for Coach Belichick and the job he does and has accomplished in his Hall of Fame career. I called him to remind him of my respect for him. I also reached out to Tedy Bruschi, who rightfully defended those Patriot players and coaches on ESPN, to tell him that I agree with him that the Patriots earned every victory.”

Interesting item by AFC North colleague Jamison Hensley on the debate about if Joe Flacco should be paid like a top-five quarterback.

That’s the case his agent is making and he’s basing that on the fact that Flacco’s 44 wins are the most ever by a quarterback in his first four seasons.

Hmm, if I’m Matt Ryan’s agent, I’m keeping a close eye on this situation. You might recall Flacco and Ryan have been joined at the hip since they entered the league in 2008. Ryan was drafted by Atlanta and Flacco by Baltimore.

Both have been doing a lot of winning ever since. In fact, Ryan, who missed two starts due to injury in 2009, has a career 43-19 regular-season record as a starter.

You could make a case that Ryan is better than Flacco. Ryan has a comfortable lead over Flacco in career passing yards and touchdowns.

Ryan remains under contract through 2013. But his cap figure for this year is $13.5 million. The Falcons could look to extend Ryan’s contract and lower his cap figure for this year.

If Flacco’s agent gets his top-five wish in the meantime, Ryan’s agent should hand a copy of the contract to the Falcons.

Tuesday’s news that Baltimore Ravens running back Ricky Williams is retiring comes with a bit of an NFC South angle.

Williams once was the biggest thing to ever hit the New Orleans Saints. Remember the 1999 draft, when the Saints traded away all their picks from that year, plus a couple more for the following year, for the right to draft Williams?

Yeah, it made headlines all over the place because it was one of the most daring trades ever -- we’re talking way more daring and dangerous than what the Falcons gave up to get Julio Jones or what the Saints gave up to get Mark Ingram in the 2011 draft.

It was the biggest deal coach Mike Ditka made and (along with a 3-13 record that season) it led to the end of his coaching career.

When coach Jim Haslett arrived the next season, Williams had some success. He had two 1,000-yard seasons, but there were issues. Williams was a unique personality. He didn’t interact a lot with teammates and often conducted interviews behind the shield of his helmet.

"Ricky's just a different guy," former New Orleans receiver Joe Horn once said. "People he wanted to deal with, he did. And people he wanted to have nothing to do with, he didn't. No one could understand that. I don't think guys in the locker room could grasp that he wanted to be to himself -- you know, quiet. If you didn't understand him and didn't know what he was about, it always kept people in suspense."

Haslett was in suspense or, at the very least, never quite could figure out Williams. That’s part of the reason Deuce McAllister was drafted. By the end of the 2001 season, in which Williams rushed for 1,245 yards and caught 60 passes, Haslett was pretty clear that Williams didn’t fit his long-term plans.

In the spring of 2002, the Saints traded Williams to the Miami Dolphins. They were able to get back some of what they initially gave up for Williams by getting four draft picks, including two first-round choices, in return.

Williams’ career would go on to have all sorts of twists and turns. He had success at times in Miami. He also retired from football in 2004, only to return in 2005. Williams was suspended by the NFL in 2006 and wound up playing for Toronto in the Canadian Football League.

Williams returned to the Dolphins in 2007. He finished his career with Baltimore and ended up with 10,009 rushing yards and 74 total touchdowns (66 of them on the ground).

Not a bad career, especially when you consider all the interruptions.

Would it have somehow worked out better if things had been handled differently and Williams spent his entire career in New Orleans? It’s impossible to say for sure.

Williams’ track record suggests he might have encountered some of the same, or different, problems if he had been with the Saints the entire time. Things worked out all right for him. They also worked out for the Saints, aside from the initial price tag to get Williams. McAllister ended up having a very nice career.

Reggie Bush came in and did some nice things at certain times. Along the way, the Saints also added Pierre Thomas and Darren Sproles, who have done some pretty nice things at running back.

BALTIMORE -- The fine folks at ESPN Stats & Information just passed along some notes that help explain why the Saints lost to the Ravens on Sunday.

Let’s start with Baltimore’s defensive pressure. In his postgame interview, New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees admitted he wound up seeing more pressure than he expected from the Ravens. The numbers backed that up.

The Ravens sent five or more rushers on 25 of Brees’ 49 drop backs. In other words, Baltimore blitzed 51 percent of the time. That’s the highest percentage by the Ravens since Week Four of the 2009 season when they used the blitz on 56.8 percent of the drop backs by New England.

The other area I found interesting was a breakdown of Brees’ passes from inside the numbers compared to outside the numbers. It’s a pretty striking difference and tells you that the strength of Baltimore’s defense is inside the numbers.

On passes thrown outside the numbers, Brees averaged 7.0 yards per attempt, threw all three of his touchdowns and had a 126.3 passer rating. Inside the numbers was a totally different story.

In those situations, Brees averaged only 5.0 yards per attempt, was intercepted once and had a 58.8 passer rating.

BALTIMORE -- In a postgame locker room where there easily could have been talk of frustration, doom or even meetings to plan the return of the Lombardi Trophy, there simply wasn’t.

“If we are a wild-card, then obviously our trip to the Super Bowl is on the road,’’ New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said after a 30-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. “If that’s what we have to do, that’s what we’ll have to do.’’

Nobody summed up the situation the Saints (10-4) face any better than Brees. Nobody even took a different tack than Brees. From head coach Sean Payton on down, the Saints were taking the loss for precisely what it was.

“It’s a disappointing loss, a tough loss,’’ Payton said. “You credit Baltimore. It was a hard-fought game. I thought both teams played hard and, in the end, they made more plays than we did.’’

Ordinarily, the above quote would not have been transcribed off my tape recorder and it certainly wouldn't have been used. It’s the kind of meaningless stuff coaches spew every week. But, in this case, it is entirely accurate.

On a chilly day at M&T Stadium, two good teams played a good game and the Ravens (10-4) came out with a narrow win. There’s no real shame in any of that, but let’s keep the part about chilly days in distant stadiums and playing against very good teams in mind.

Last season’s dream of playoff games in the comfy Superdome are fading fast.

“I think we’re a very good road team,’’ Brees said. “We just ran into a very good opponent.’’

Well, if the Saints really are going to repeat as champions, losing close games on the road isn’t going to be good enough. There is the Dec. 27 road game at Atlanta, the team that has the lead in the NFC South. After that, there’s a regular-season-ending home game with Tampa Bay, but that might be the last time the Saints see the Superdome until next season.

Heck, unless they’re lucky enough to draw the NFC West champion in a playoff game, they probably have faced their last easy opponent until next season. Sunday’s temperature at kickoff was 34 degrees. There was no snow and the sun even came out a few times, but the Saints potentially could face road trips in the playoffs where the setting could be far worse than Baltimore.

They could end up in places like Philadelphia, New York or Chicago in January.

“The fact is, we still had a chance to win at the end,’’ Brees said. “That’s all you can ask for.’’

That’s all true. The Saints were in it all the way until Brees had a pass intercepted with one minute, 47 seconds left.

If nothing else, though, Sunday showed that things aren’t going to get any easier for the Saints. In fact, in a lot of ways, it showed some pretty major flaws that can be exploited.

Let’s start with the run defense, because the Ravens started and finished with their run offense. Baltimore’s Ray Rice carried 31 times for 153 yards and a touchdown. Factor in a few carries by Willis McGahee, highlighted by a 28-yard run, and quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens gained 208 yards on the ground.

“Our game plan was to stop [Rice],’’ New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins said.

Chalk up that game plan -- or at least the execution of that game plan -- as pretty much a total failure.

“We didn’t stop the run at all,’’ veteran safety Darren Sharper said. “It just comes down to tackling the guy with the football. We know we can play with this team or any team. It was just more about the fundamentals, more about not tackling.’’

Well, guess what? The Saints probably are going to face a few more good running backs before all is said and done. There’s Atlanta’s Michael Turner next week (and maybe later in the playoffs) and Tampa Bay’s LeGarrette Blount in two weeks. And if you look at the other running backs the Saints potentially could face in the playoffs, you’ll see some pretty good ones. If the Saints keep going the way they are, you could even end up seeing some running backs play a lot better than they really are.

“Our defense is about creating turnovers,’’ Jenkins said. “When they put the ball on the ground for 150 yards, that makes it tough to get turnovers.’’

If you really want to knock this point home, you might want to factor in what Rice did as a receiver out of the backfield. He caught five passes for 80 yards and a touchdown on a day when Flacco was completing only 10 of his 20 passes for 172 yards.

Were the Saints too focused on stripping the ball from Rice and forgot about tackling him?

“We were doing the same thing we’ve been doing,’’ Payton said. “Obviously, they rushed the ball pretty well, so we’ll look to clean some of that up.’’

It might be a good idea to clean up all of that. It clearly isn’t panic time for the defending champions. But it’s approaching. The Saints must figure out how to stop the run and win games played in distant, cold-weather stadiums.

“Everything is ahead of us,’’ Sharper said. “If we win our next two games, we are in a good position. We need to come back from today. This was a tough loss to a tough team.’’

Maybe that’s all this was -- or maybe it was a sign of what’s starting to look like a tough road for the Saints.

BALTIMORE -- A rapid reaction to the New Orleans Saints' 30-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

What it means: A road loss to Baltimore is nothing to be ashamed off and it certainly doesn’t end New Orleans’ chances of repeating as Super Bowl champions. At 10-4, the Saints are very much in the postseason picture. But, unlike last year, when they had the No. 1 seed, the Saints might end up having to play on the road in the playoffs. Possible road settings include Chicago, New York and Philadelphia. Those aren’t exactly warm-weather sites. In fact, Baltimore in December might seem balmy compared to what the Saints could face in those venues in January.

What I didn’t like: You can talk all you want about the Baltimore weather and claim the Saints are a dome team. But the fact is the Saints were able to throw the ball around and score some points in a cold-weather venue. The much larger concern going forward is the defense. The Saints weren’t great against the run or the pass. To make matters potentially much worse, cornerback Jabari Greer left the game with a knee injury and did not return. If Greer is going to miss any time, that’s not at all good for New Orleans. Greer is the best cornerback the Saints have.

Not a great idea department: With the Saints trying to shut down a Baltimore drive late and get the ball back, defensive end Will Smith got hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty for shoving a player from behind, long after the play was over.

What’s next: The Saints probably will be keeping a close eye on the Falcons playing out in Seattle as they head for the airport for their flight home. No matter what happens in Seattle, the Saints have to focus totally in on Atlanta. The two teams play each other Dec. 27 in a "Monday Night Football" game that could have huge implications on the postseason.

Ever since he intercepted a pass and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown Sunday against St. Louis, New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins has been drawing even more comparisons to Darren Sharper.

That's pretty logical, because the play looked almost like a copy of the one Sharper made against the New York Jets early last season. Both plays came near the same end zone, went down the same sideline and resulted in touchdowns.

But let's not act like this is a case of Jenkins coming out of nowhere and making Sharper pretty much a non-factor. What you are seeing is Jenkins emerging as one of the best, or at least hottest, safeties in the league.

This was all part of a master plan by the Saints. Although fans didn't want to believe it for most of the offseason, the decision for Jenkins to take Sharper's place was made almost an entire calendar year ago. Sharper is a charismatic veteran beloved by fans and a player who made very big plays during last season's Super Bowl run.

But it also was becoming very obvious during that run that Sharper's time as an elite player was running out quickly. By the time the Saints won the Super Bowl, there was a pretty strong hunch within the coaching staff and management that Sharper no longer was the best safety on the roster.

In their eyes, the best safety on the roster was Jenkins, who played cornerback a year ago. That's why as soon as he showed up to start working out after the Super Bowl celebrations, the Saints sat Jenkins down and told him he was moving to free safety. It turns out that foresight was spot on.

“I don’t know if Malcolm is the second coming of Darren Sharper, but he’s going to be the first coming of Malcolm Jenkins,’’ Sharper told the New Orleans media this week.

Jenkins has become a play-making safety and a legitimate Pro Bowl candidate. When the Saints play the Ravens on Sunday, Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed will be the biggest-name defensive players on the field. But they might not be, at this moment, the best defensive players on the field.

That title might belong to Jenkins, who over the past month or so has played as well as any defensive player in the league. Jenkins' two interceptions against the Rams earned him a second NFC Defensive Player of the Week Award. He also won the award in Week 12, after stripping Dallas' Roy E. Williams of the ball, recovering the fumble and helping the Saints to a victory on Thanksgiving. It's rare for anyone to get an honor twice in a few weeks. The fact that Jenkins did is a sign that this guy can't be stopped right now.

"The ball seems to find him,'' New Orleans coach Sean Payton said Sunday.

There is something to be said for instincts or having a nose for the ball. Those are the traits of great safeties, but Payton was quick to add that there are a lot of other reasons why Jenkins has become a magnet for the football.

“He's tough,'' Payton said. "He’s intelligent. He’s a guy who has good instincts. That mental makeup, along with his skill set, serves him well.''

The physical skills were always there. Everybody knew that when Jenkins was a first-round pick out of Ohio State last year. But what you're seeing now is intelligence catching up to, maybe even surpassing, physical ability.

From the moment he was told he was moving to safety, Jenkins became a regular in the film room. He got tips from Sharper, who eventually re-signed with the Saints after testing free agency. But teammates and coaches will tell you Jenkins is the guy who is making it all happen because he has worked so hard to prepare.

"I don't think it's anything special," Jenkins said. "I think (defensive coordinator) Gregg Williams puts us in position to make plays -- and, at the end of the day, talk about the mentality of making plays.''

Jenkins has turned Sharper, a possible Hall of Famer, into a role player. Although the Saints worked Jenkins exclusively at safety in the offseason, they were forced to return him to cornerback briefly when starters Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter and nickel back Randall Gay suffered injuries. When Sharper came off the physically unable to perform list at midseason, Jenkins remained the starter at free safety. He occasionally has played nickel corner when Sharper gets on the field.

Some players might have gotten confused by all the shuffling. Not Jenkins. He has thrived and is talked about as a perennial Pro Bowler by Sharper.

“There’s something about a guy who can play both positions, corner and safety in the game, and make plays at both positions,’’ Sharper said. “I can say he’s going to be a multi-Pro Bowler because that’s what a Pro Bowler does: He makes plays. You want to see the safety make those plays. That’s what a safety is supposed to do, and he’s taking off and running with it.''

Mark Schlereth and Tedy Bruschi tell you who will win the game between the Ravens and Panthers.