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Former NFL executive Bill Polian said he doesn’t understand how New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis got any competitive advantage from allegedly having the ability to listen to opposing coaches communicate during games.

“There’s something missing here,’’ said Polian, who is now an ESPN analyst. “I don’t know what kind of competitive advantage you can get. Mickey would have to know the verbiage of every other opposing team in order to translate it, and then he would have to do it instantly and find some way to communicate with his coaching staff and get it down to the field in time for it to be useful. That would be very difficult to do in my opinion.’’

That all makes a lot of sense. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for Loomis to tip off his coaching staff to what opposing coaching staffs were saying seconds before the snap. It also would have been pretty much impossible for those coaches to let players know quickly enough what play was coming.

It also is extremely important to note that Loomis had the alleged ability to listen to other coaches only from a span from 2002 through 2004. That’s when Jim Haslett was coaching the team. Hurricane Katrina hit before the 2005 season, and the Saints had to play their home games in other locations that season. The report says the listening device was destroyed by the hurricane, and there are no indications it was put back into place. Haslett was fired after the 2005 season, and if Loomis was listening to play calls by opposing coaches, Haslett's record doesn't suggest it provided much of advantage.

Sean Payton was hired to replace Haslett in 2006. So you can’t tie Payton to this issue. But I still don’t see how this can mean anything positive for the Saints.

The NFL already has suspended Payton for a full season for a bounty program the league says lasted three years. Loomis also will be suspended for the first eight games of the 2012 season for not stopping the bounty program.

The NFL reportedly was not aware of Loomis allegedly having had a listening device until the report came Monday afternoon and the team has denied the allegations. Loomis might not have gained any competitive advantage from allegedly having a listening device, and the allegations are from long ago when a different coaching staff was in place.

But these allegations sound a lot like Spygate, which also was something that happened in the past. The NFL -- particularly commissioner Roger Goodell -- didn’t take that situation lightly, and fined the New England Patriots $750,000. If this had come out a few years back, the Saints might be in line for a punishment similar to New England’s, if the NFL had found them guilty of the allegations.

But that was just one situation. This is different. This is coming on top of the whole bounty program.

Competitive advantage or not, this could convince Goodell to throw the book at the Saints -- even more than he already has.

In an offseason that has been filled with controversy for the New Orleans Saints, we now have even more.

This one doesn’t relate to the bounty program, but it could have major implications.

ESPN's "Outside The Lines" just reported that New Orleans general manager Mickey Loomis allegedly had an electronic device in his Superdome suite that had been secretly re-wired to enable him to eavesdrop on visiting coaching staffs for nearly three seasons, from 2002-04. That allegedly took place before coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees arrived in 2006. Sources told "Outside The Lines" that the listening system was disabled when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 and not restored. (Greg Bensel, Saints vice president of communications, said Monday on behalf of the Saints and Loomis: "This is 1,000 percent false. This is 1,000 percent inaccurate.")

This is significant on several levels. First, the report suggests that state and federal law might have been violated, and the situation has been reported to the U.S. Attorney in New Orleans. There is no indication yet if any charges will be filed. We’ll wait for law enforcement and the lawyers to figure that out. I won't even speculate about what civil liabilities Loomis and the Saints could be exposed to.

But there are huge potential implications elsewhere. Loomis is suspended without pay for the first eight games of the 2012 season for his role in not stopping the Saints’ bounty program. This latest news isn’t going to persuade commissioner Roger Goodell to shorten Loomis’ suspension.

In fact, this has the potential to lead to a longer suspension, or even more punishment for Loomis and the Saints. Although this incident allegedly took place quite a long time ago, it won't sit well with Goodell. He fined the New England Patriots $750,000 and forced them to forfeit a first-round draft pick for Spygate. You can make a case that listening to opposing coaches during a game is worse than videotaping signals on the sidelines and using that information.

Throw in the whole situation surrounding the bounty system, and I don’t see how this can lead to anything positive for Loomis or the Saints.

Saints owner Tom Benson has stood by Loomis and Payton, who is suspended for the entire 2012 season. But you must wonder if news of more alleged wrongdoing by Loomis might prompt Benson to fire his general manager.

I know Benson has other things going on. He recently purchased the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets. Brees hasn’t been able to work out a long-term contract with the Saints, and that’s not a positive for Brees, Benson or the Saints. The team is waiting to see if players will be suspended for their roles in the bounty program. Benson also reportedly has put his granddaughter, Rita Benson LeBlanc, on unofficial administrative leave. LeBlanc had been viewed as the heir apparent to Benson, but it doesn’t sound as if the owner is anywhere near ready to step aside.

That might be a good thing, because the Saints have all sorts of turmoil to deal with. Someone must clean up this mess. It’s Benson’s team, so we’ll wait and see where he goes from here.

This offseason just keeps getting worse for the Saints.

Give New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson credit for one thing. He’s not letting the whole saga of the bounty program keep him from moving on.

Benson reportedly has reached an agreement with the NBA to buy the New Orleans Hornets.

Benson has owned the Saints since 1985, and wasn’t always viewed favorably by fans. He reportedly wanted to move the Saints permanently to San Antonio after Hurricane Katrina. But former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue urged Benson to keep the team in New Orleans.

Benson did, and eventually worked out a long-term deal that included major upgrades to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Until the bounty program was exposed, the Saints have enjoyed an unprecedented era of success since 2006.

Maybe Benson can make a similar story out of the Hornets. But he also might want to get Saints quarterback Drew Brees signed to a long-term contract before the team’s offseason program starts Monday.

Sean Payton is one of the three or five best head coaches in the NFL. He’s won a Super Bowl and helped a city and a region recover from Hurricane Katrina.

He’s the most brilliant offensive mind of our time and he’s had winning seasons every year since 2008.

So why are people suddenly calling for the coach of the New Orleans Saints to be fired?

It’s not about football. It’s about a lot more.

Check out this column from colleague Ashley Fox, who writes that Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis should be fired for their role in what the NFL says was a “bounty program’’ in which New Orleans coaches and players pooled money to reward defenders when they injured opponents. We’re not talking about $500 for an interception. We’re talking that much or more for intentionally injuring an opponent.

I’ve thought long and hard about what punishments Loomis and Payton should face since the news broke on Friday. I’ve come to the conclusion that I agree totally with Fox.

Payton and Loomis have to go. It's harsh, but it's warranted, probably even necessary. If they're not fired, Payton and Loomis should be suspended, probably for a full season.

I know former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is being portrayed as the main culprit in all this. Williams is gone and now is the coordinator in St. Louis. The league is looking into allegations that he did similar programs at other stops in his career. It seems pretty likely that Williams, who has admitted to and apologized for running the program in New Orleans, will end up being suspended or maybe even banned from coaching.

But punishing Williams doesn’t punish the Saints and they’ve more than earned that. They used the bounties for three years.

To simply say Williams was the bad guy and Payton and Loomis shouldn’t suffer any consequences is ridiculous. They’re more guilty than Williams because they held higher positions.

Anyone who knows anything about the Saints knows that Payton runs every aspect of the organization and knows everything that goes on in the building. The league’s report said Payton knew about the program and did nothing to stop it.

Hmm, I can think of several big-name college coaches who went down through the years because they didn’t do enough when scandals enveloped their programs and a lot of people felt they should be held to a higher standard because they were head coaches.

We’re not talking about the NCAA here. We’re talking the NFL and allegations of anything that was designed to intentionally injure players couldn’t come at a worse time in history. Commissioner Roger Goodell has been making all sorts of noise about player safety. The lockout and labor negotiations last year were largely about player safety and we’ve seen new rules put in to cut down on offseason workouts and heard lots of other talk about the importance of player safety. How many stories have we seen about concussions in recent years?

Payton, in essence, thumbed his nose at player safety the last three years. Should he be fired because of it? Cast your vote in the accompanying SportsNation poll. I say he has to go.

Same for any assistant coach still on staff that knew anything about the bounty program. Yeah, it’s tough to fire a coach in March. But the Saints need to be proactive on this. If they keep the current staff in place for the 2012 season, I’m telling you right now every game will resemble a boxing match. Opposing teams would go after the Saints because the Saints went after them. I don’t think the league wants boxing matches these days.

The Saints have defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on staff. He wasn’t around when this stuff was going on. He’s been a head coach in St. Louis and has a clean reputation around the league.

What about Loomis? I think he’s got to go as well. Although Payton definitely played the dominant role in this coach-general manager relationship, Loomis has carried the title of general manager. In theory, that means managing an organization overall and maintaining the integrity of a franchise would seem to be part of the job description.

The NFL report says Loomis was told by owner Tom Benson to stop the bounty program. The NFL also said Loomis failed to follow through on that.

I know a lot of other general managers that would immediately do what they were told by an owner. Loomis didn’t do that and therefore failed in his duty to uphold the integrity of the franchise and the league. Heck, once the New England Patriots were hit with Spygate, all talk of them filming other teams ceased — perhaps not coincidentally, they haven't won a Super Bowl since.

Loomis and Payton have done many great things for the Saints and New Orleans. But they failed their team, their city and the NFL by allowing this disgraceful practice to go on for three years. Somebody has to pay the price on this one.

The man who made the New Orleans Saints could end up breaking them.

Drew Brees arrived in 2006 as the Saints and the city of New Orleans were still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He brought instant credibility, an explosive brand of offense and sustained success for a franchise that had been hapless through most of its existence. He also played a vital role in rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf South region.

Now, the price tag on all that is coming due. Brees is scheduled to become a free agent on March 13. He and the Saints are negotiating, but reports indicate the two sides remain far apart. That in itself is a little unbelievable because the parameters of this deal are obvious. Brees deserves to be the highest-paid player in NFL history.

He’s coming off a year in which he set the NFL record for passing yards in a season (5,476), and he should get at least as much as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, who average $18 million per year.

I have no doubt that, when all is said and done, Brees will remain with the Saints. If negotiations on a long-term deal continue to fail, the Saints will simply put the franchise tag on their franchise quarterback.

But, either way, this is when we could begin to see the beginning of the end of the Saints as we know them.

They’re not going to be the same team they were last season when they went 13-3. They might not even be the same team they were in 2010 when they went 11-5. And they certainly aren’t going to be the same team they were in the magical 2009 season when they won the Super Bowl.

They’ll have the same quarterback, and that’s a great start. But the economics of his contract mean the Saints aren’t going to have the same quality of players at a lot of other positions. That’s not Brees’ fault, or the team’s fault. It’s simply reality in the modern NFL.

By the time next season rolls around and everything has shaken out, the Saints could be taking several steps back. They’ll still have a high-powered offense because they’ll have Brees, Darren Sproles and Jimmy Graham, but that offense might not be quite the machine it’s been the past few seasons. That’s because some parts are going to be gone and they can’t truly be replaced.

On defense, which wasn’t an area of strength to begin with, the Saints have a new coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, who needs new pieces to execute his scheme. He’s not going to be able to get all he needs -- at least not this offseason.

So you’re looking at an offense that probably will be a notch or two below what it’s been in recent seasons. And you’re looking at a defense that’s probably going to be far from dominant.

Gee, that sounds pretty much like the Saints were in 2007 and ’08. They scored a lot of points, but the offense wasn’t quite perfect. The defense was far below perfect. That added up to mediocre seasons that didn’t end in trips to the playoffs.

That could be what the Saints face in 2012.

We haven’t even seen the full fallout yet, but we can start looking ahead and, no matter how you slice it, it’s tough to paint a pretty picture.

Brees isn’t the only big-name free agent the Saints have, but he’s the only one they’re absolutely sure to keep. The same can’t be said for guard Carl Nicks and wide receiver Marques Colston. It definitely can’t be said for receiver Robert Meachem and cornerback Tracy Porter, who aren’t on the Nicks/Colston level have been valuable contributors.

At absolute best, the Saints will be able to sign Brees and then place the franchise tag on either Nicks or Colston. At worst, they use the franchise tag on Brees, while Colston and Nicks both walk.

You don’t replace Nicks. He’s the best guard in the NFL and he may be just hitting his prime. Although the Saints have another very good guard in Jahri Evans, they no longer would have the unquestioned best guard tandem in the NFL.

Without Nicks, Brees would lose his best protector. Any quarterback, even Brees, isn’t quite as good when he’s getting pressured (think back to last season’s stunning loss to St. Louis).

Colston probably isn't on his way to the Hall of Fame, but he’s been Brees’ favorite target since they joined forces in 2006. Colston has had 1,000-yard receiving seasons in five of his six years. He’s a big target who isn't afraid to go over the middle. Take him away and take Meachem away, and the Saints would still have Lance Moore, Devery Henderson and Adrian Arrington. Moore and Henderson are nice, experienced receivers, but they don’t do the things Colston does.

And when you’ve got no cap room to sign free agents and no first-round draft pick, where are you going to get a receiver who does anything close to what Colston does? And where are you going to get a guard who is anywhere near as good as Nicks?

So let’s subtract a few points a game from the Saints’ offense going forward. And we’re only just beginning to talk about a defense that could end up giving up more points than it has in recent seasons.

This defense isn’t loaded with talent and we soon could see subtraction by subtraction. This salary-cap jam almost certainly will force the Saints to let Porter walk. That’s not that big a deal. The Saints have a top-flight corner in Jabari Greer, and it’s pretty apparent they’ve been preparing for Porter’s eventual departure by drafting Patrick Robinson and Johnny Patrick in recent years.

But the cost of keeping Brees, and maybe Nicks or Colston, means it’s almost certain the Saints are going to have to trim some cap room by releasing some prominent defensive players or at least restructuring their contracts.

Middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma and defensive end Will Smith are likely the top two targets for that. Although both are aging and Vilma is coming off a knee injury, those two have been New Orleans’ defensive leaders throughout coach Sean Payton’s tenure. Take Vilma away from a group of linebackers that’s ordinary, and you’ve got a group of linebackers that’s less than ordinary. And you're without the next guy in the leadership chain after Brees.

Again, the Saints don’t have the currency (cap room or prime draft picks) to make major upgrades here. Take Smith away from a pass rush that hasn’t even been ordinary, and you’ve got the potential for huge problems.

Unlike predecessor Gregg Williams, whose defensive philosophy was to be opportunistic and create turnovers, Spagnuolo believes in playing more of a shutdown defense, and he likes to generate almost all of his pressure from the front four. With Smith, the Saints have one guy up front who can rush the passer. Without him, they won’t have any.

Good luck trying to find a guy in the middle rounds of the draft or a low-priced free agent who will step right in and give you double-digit sacks. Spagnuolo is a good coach and his hiring set off celebrations in New Orleans. But a coach is only as good as the players around him, and Spagnuolo is probably not going to have a great deal of defensive talent in his first year.

That could be the story of the Saints in 2012.

Keeping their quarterback would at least keep them competitive, but they won't take steps forward if their roster is wiped out and the cap situation keeps them from being rebuilt.

Time to take a look at the top Saturday morning headlines from around the NFC South. Obviously, this will be heavy on the Saints and Falcons because they have playoff games this weekend.

Bob Marshall has a column about how Detroit fans are like New Orleans fans a few years back. New Orleans went through Hurricane Katrina and the Saints helped pull the city back together. Detroit has been through some difficult economic times but the Lions have given people something to rally around.

Jeff Duncan writes that the Saints can set themselves apart if the defense steps up in the postseason. No doubt, the New Orleans offense always will put points on the board. But the defense is going to have to make some plays along the way if the Saints are going to get to the Super Bowl.

The Saints said they’re prepared for Detroit defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. He didn’t play against them in the regular season because he was serving a suspension.

Largely due to the position he plays, Atlanta center Todd McClure doesn’t get a lot of attention. But that sometimes changes in the postseason. Here’s a very nice feature on McClure in The Wall Street Journal. I’m guessing the Giants’ defensive line doesn’t think the Atlanta offensive linemen read The Wall Street Journal.

Here’s a bit of good news for Atlanta fans. You don’t hear a lot about kicker Matt Bryant. But I can tell you he’s a very competitive guy who is motivated by perceived slights. Bryant started his career with the Giants, but was cut soon after the arrival of coach Tom Coughlin. Keep that in mind if Sunday’s game comes down to a Bryant kick because I can assure you that will be on Bryant’s mind.

Atlanta wide receiver Harry Douglas has a brother, Toney, who plays for the New York Knicks. Toney Douglas will be at MetLife Stadium on Sunday to watch is brother.

The Jacksonville Jaguars reportedly interviewed Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski for their job as head coach. Atlanta offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey also has been given permission to talk to the Jaguars. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers attempt to interview one or both of these coordinators soon.

Tampa Bay veteran cornerback Ronde Barber will have surgery on his fractured right arm, according to his brother, Tiki. After the surgery, Barber also will decide if he wants to retire or continue playing. Barber previously suggested he might retire if the Bucs fired coach Raheem Morris and they did. There’s no big rush here. Barber can wait to see who is hired as the new coach and decide if he wants to continue playing and if he fits into the plans of the new coach.

I would like to urge all Saints fans to read this excellent profile on Rita Benson LeBlanc by Elizabeth Merrill.

LeBlanc is the granddaughter of Saints owner Tom Benson. She’s the heir apparent to take over the franchise. But she already is very involved in the day-to-day operations of the club.

There’s no question LeBlanc is the most powerful woman in the NFC South. She might even be the most powerful woman in the NFL.

The Saints had a lot of lean years in their early existence. But they’ve emerged as a model franchise since Hurricane Katrina. Their role in the New Orleans community is bigger than it ever has been and LeBlanc has played a big role in all of that.

Sean Payton doesn’t need crutches.

Less than a week after tearing up his knee, the coach of the New Orleans Saints might not be walking well, but he’s got perhaps the NFL’s best stable of assistant coaches to lean on.

Payton’s injury was an accident. Tight end Jimmy Graham plowed into Payton as he was being pushed out of bounds by a couple of Tampa Bay defenders. But it’s no accident that Payton has a virtual all-star team of coaches, who began preparing for Indianapolis about the same time the head coach was getting out of surgery, to help him through what should be only a minor and temporary crisis.

Payton’s expected to return to work Thursday; he’ll be in the coaches’ booth in the press box for Sunday night’s game with the Indianapolis Colts and on game days for at least a few more weeks. And while that will mean some adjustments, this is a staff built to handle a situation like this.

One thing Payton understood when he took the job back in 2006 was the importance of surrounding yourself with a good staff. He still has eight members of his original staff, nine if you count assistant special teams coach John Bonamego, who left for three seasons with the Dolphins but returned to the Saints this year. Even the “newer’’ members of the coaching staff are very much part of the family. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, a former head coach, came in 2009 and brought along his son, Blake, as an assistant. That was also the same year Brian Young joined the staff, after playing defensive tackle for the Saints from 2004 through 2008.

Payton might not be strolling the sidelines anytime soon, but his system remains very much in place and everyone from the assistants to the players knows how things are done.

“We reminded the team that his absence in the earlier part of the week and not knowing how much he’ll partake in the latter part of the week is not an excuse for us to lose,’’ assistant head coach Joe Vitt said. “It’s not an excuse to not prepare. Because the excuses are out there if you want to take them.’’

The Saints aren’t going to be making or taking any excuses on Vitt’s watch. His style is that of a drill sergeant and his NFL coaching experience runs all the way back to the days when he was with the Colts, who were then still in Baltimore. He’s respected in the Saints’ locker room and all around the league.

“Ninety percent of the time in the NFL, that just means more money or a title to keep someone happy,’’ Payton wrote in his book “Home Team.’’ “But if you went to the dictionary and looked up 'NFL assistant head coach,' you’d see a picture of Joe Vitt.’’

Vitt, who did a stint in 2005 as interim head coach of the St. Louis Rams, was one of the first coaches Payton hired — a move that set off a celebration at the time because most veteran coaches were hesitant to move to New Orleans in the uncertain aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“Other than the signing of (quarterback) Drew Brees, this was the most important acquisition we made,’’ Payton wrote about Vitt’s hiring.

Vitt is also the linebackers coach, so with he and Gregg Williams running the show, Payton’s injury shouldn’t have any real impact on the defense.

But having Payton upstairs instead of on the sideline will create some logistical challenges for the offense.

“We’re going to work through all the mechanics,’’ Vitt said. “One of the things around here we take great pride in is our preparation. We’ll see what works for us. This coaching staff has been together a long time. We need to work through these challenges for our football team to win a football game”

But the experience of the offensive staff should be able to help cushion those challenges.

“(Payton) empowers our assistant coaches a lot anyway,’’ Brees said. “I think for all of us it’s business as usual, and then if there are adjustments that need to be made along the way, then we’ll make them and we won’t even think twice about it. That’s the way we operate.”

Brees already is anticipating one change. Brees said he expects Payton will call the plays from above and relay them through offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael on the sideline. In the past, Payton has communicated plays directly to Brees via radio.

“I think the fact that it’s going to be Pete’s voice now and he’ll be actually relaying the plays into me, that won’t be all that unusual for me,’’ Brees said.

That’s largely because Brees has at least as much history with Carmichael as he does with Payton. Brees played in San Diego when Carmichael was an assistant there. Carmichael came to the Saints as quarterbacks coach in 2006 and later moved up to offensive coordinator. And it doesn’t hurt that Brees is somewhat of a coach on the field.

“I’ve done that before, so you understand where the challenges are and it’s just the fact that (the play) has to get relayed,’’ Brees said. “There are a couple seconds earlier that you have to get the play out. I don’t know the setup up in the box, but I’m sure Sean will have it all laid out. I’m sure it will go off without a hitch.”

That goes for the defense and special teams as well. The only real difference you’ll see will be a few television shots of Payton sitting up in the booth.

Like always, he’ll be supervising his system with the people who put in place to help run it.

It’s now official. The Louisiana Superdome has become the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

A news conference was just formally held to announce that Mercedes-Benz USA has bought the naming rights to the Superdome for 10 years.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, Saints owner Tom Benson and executive vice president Rita Benson LeBlanc and officials from Mercedes-Benz took part in the ceremony.

“This announcement today means we are gaining the partnership of a world-class company while generating savings for Louisiana taxpayers,’’ Jindal said. “This partnership agreement is estimated to significantly reduce or eliminate taxpayer funding currently spent to support the Saints. From a place of last refuge in Hurricane Katrina, to a facility where we recently invested $85 million for improvements to help attract corporate sponsorship from world-renown Mercedes-Benz USA, the Superdome is a symbol of our State’s success in not only rebuilding, but building back better than ever. Louisiana is making a comeback and the nation is taking notice.”

Jindal’s right on this one. I’ve been to New Orleans many times since Hurricane Katrina and see improvements every time I go back. The Saints have played a major role in that comeback and the selling of the naming rights should help the entire state.

“We felt strongly it was essential that if we were to offer the name of our building to a company, it would be one that all of our fans and the state of Louisiana would be proud of,’’ Benson said. “The investment being made by a premier international brand who believes in ‘the best or nothing,’ is a tremendous compliment to all of those who worked so hard to make the stadium what it is today.”

It seems like there are a lot of reasons to look at the history of the New Orleans Saints lately.

In Sunday’s victory over Houston, the Saints wore their throwback uniforms. There also was a heart-warming story as the Saints had Steve Gleason as an honorary captain and gave him a Super Bowl ring. That came on the fifth anniversary of the re-opening of the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina and brought back memories of Gleason blocking a punt in a huge New Orleans win.

This week will bring back more memories and it’s probably a good thing that not many people associated with the Saints back in 2003 are still with the team. That’s because the Saints will be making their first trip back to Jacksonville since a very unpleasant experience.

In Week 16 of the 2003 season, the Saints and Jaguars were involved in one of the most dramatic finishes in NFL history. Trailing 20-13, the Saints got off a play as time expired. Aaron Brooks (remember him?) threw a pass that ended with Jerome Pathon landing in the end zone after three laterals and 75 yards.

Seemingly, the game was headed for overtime and the Saints would have had all the momentum against the stunned Jaguars. But, then, something weird happened. Normally-reliable kicker John Carney missed the extra point, the Jaguars won 20-19 and the Saints were eliminated from contention.

That’s how things used to play out for the Saints a lot of times. But that kind of thing seemed to come to an end as soon as Brooks left and coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees arrived in 2006.

Let's review Sunday's NFC South games with the local columnists. They're the guys who get to write opinion and I add my thoughts at the end of each item.

Mark Bradley writes that the Falcons aren’t playing the way they did the past three seasons. They’re making mistakes and not being precise. Bradley also notes there’s pressure on this team. After watching Atlanta’s first three games, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps the Falcons put too much pressure on themselves by trading up to draft Julio Jones and signing Ray Edwards to a big free-agent contract.

Joe Henderson writes that Tampa Bay’s defensive line, which includes four early picks from the past two drafts, is starting to click. He also points out that second-year pro Brian Price, who missed most of his rookie year with an injured pelvis, made one of the key plays of the day when he came up with a sack. The defensive line has been a weak spot for this team the past few years, but there suddenly are some very promising signs.

Peter Finney has a fine column on an emotional day in New Orleans. Former special-teams ace Steve Gleason, who has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), gave the Saints a pregame talk. They responded with a win and Gleason was presented with a game ball. Very nice gesture by coach Sean Payton and the Saints. Gleason made one of the biggest plays in franchise history, blocking a punt in the first game back at the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Good to see the Saints have long memories and take care of their own.

Scott Fowler writes that Cam Newton didn’t have gaudy statistics on Sunday. But he made the plays when they were needed most and the Panthers won. In my book, that says the quarterback was doing his job.

Sunday is the fifth anniversary of the reopening of the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Outstanding columnist Jeff Duncan marks it with what might be most outstanding piece of work I’ve seen in a long time.

He’s got a very lengthy and moving feature on Steve Gleason, who was one of the heroes of that first game back in the Superdome. Gleason made a huge and memorable play, blocking a punt against the Atlanta Falcons.

That’s all mentioned in the column, but it’s not the main theme of a story that’s tragic and uplifting at the same time. The real story here is that Gleason was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) back in January, just before his wife found out she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. It’s a terminal disease, but Gleason isn’t giving up.

Gleason had kept his condition quiet, but decided to go public with Duncan because he wants the world to know his story and he wants to help others. Gleason said he had several concussions while playing football. He said he doesn’t know for sure if his football injuries might have led to him coming down with the disease, but there have been several studies that have suggested football players and other athletes in contact sports seem to be prone to the illness.

Despite the grim outlook, Gleason and his wife, who is due in late October, are going about their lives as normally as possible. Gleason will be an honorary captain for the Saints on Sunday.

That’s only fitting because he played such a big role on this date five years ago and he remains a very popular figure in New Orleans.

If you haven’t seen it already, I urge you to go read Duncan’s column.

Sunday marks the five-year anniversary of the New Orleans Saints returning to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Saints coach Sean Payton got a little philosophical when recalling that event.

It’s understandable, because that game symbolized a city on the way back and marked a turning point in the history of a franchise that had struggled for much of its existence.

"I think 10, 15, 20, 30 years from now, as those memories fade, I don’t think we’ll ever lose track or not remember Steve Gleason blocking a punt,’’ Payton said. “If there was one moment, it would be the first punt of the game and Gleason hitting it just right and coming up with it. That was a significant play in that game and probably the loudest I’ve ever heard any stadium, ever. There would be a distant second, there would be a big gap between the next crowd noise that you would be able to remember.

“The Super Bowl would be second as far as the crowd noise, and I’ve said this before, I think, and many would argue, but the significance of that season certainly was equal to the significance of eventually winning the Super Bowl. The significance of that season and us playing well in 2006 mattered a lot. (The) 2009 (season) was important because you won a championship but ’06 for many was just as important, if not more.”

That’s a pretty strong statement, but it’s very true. Without what happened in 2006, the Super Bowl championship in 2009 might not have taken place.

Payton said the return to the Superdome was like a second start for the franchise and it made him reflect on the first start.

“I run into so many people that tell me that they were there at Tulane Stadium when (John) Gilliam returned the (first in franchise history) kickoff for a touchdown,’’ Payton said. “I don’t know how many seats Tulane Stadium sat at that time, but I’m going to say 5,000 more people have told me than seats available, but I think this was that type of, or even of greater significance. That represented the start of the franchise. This represented the coming back and the return of not just a team, but more importantly a region and a city.”

Monday is the sixth anniversary of one of the biggest moments in NFC South history. It was an event that had implications off the field and on it.

It’s been six years since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The city has come back strong and no one should underestimate the role the Saints played in that. They’re more popular now and have had more success in recent years than they did in their entire history before the storm.

It’s no coincidence that quarterback Drew Brees arrived a few months after the storm and has done as much as anyone to help the city recover. Brees signed as a free agent with the Saints in 2006, just a few months after Katrina.

At the time, New Orleans wasn’t an attractive place for free agents and there was some doubt the Saints would stay in Louisiana. But Brees has said many times that he felt a calling during his visit and that’s a big part of the reason why he joined the Saints.

Brees has been an activist in the community, but his mere presence on the Saints has done a lot to help New Orleans to recover. In the aftermath of the disaster, the Saints became a rallying point for the entire region.

Brees took the Saints to the playoffs his first year and the Saints won the Super Bowl in the 2009 season. All that helped provide a diversion from the misery of the storm and its aftermath.

"Obviously in so many ways New Orleans has come back better - while in one moment you say, 'Look how far we've come,' you also have to say, 'What's still left to do?,'" Brees told the media. "And I think that's definitely motivation for all of us just to continue on. It's gone by fast. That's where you just have to say, 'Life does go by fast. And so let's take advantage of every opportunity we have and improve our place to live.’’

Examining the most crucial event in the history of every team in the division.

The most important moment in the history of the New Orleans Saints, maybe even in the history of the entire NFC South, might have come when a coach and a quarterback went for a ride and got totally lost.

It came on a spring day in 2006 when Sean Payton, recently hired as the coach, took free-agent Drew Brees and his wife, Brittany, for a ride that seemed misdirected at the time, but turned out to be a drive to destiny. While touring the area, Payton got off Interstate 10 at the wrong exit and started driving on streets he’d never seen before.

“I finally admitted to Drew, 'I have no idea where we are right now,'’’ Payton wrote in his book, “Home Team.’’

It’s worth a laugh now. But at the time, Payton, Brees, the Saints and the entire New Orleans region really had no idea where anything was. This was a few months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the Saints didn’t even know if they’d be able to stay in New Orleans for the long term.

Brees’ future was just as cloudy. He wasn’t being brought back by San Diego because he was coming off a major shoulder injury and the Chargers were handing things over to Philip Rivers. There was interest from Miami, but the Dolphins weren’t sure about Brees’ shoulder. Neither were the Saints.

But Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis decided to take a gamble. They offered Brees a big contract and a couple of days after being hopelessly lost, he accepted. The Brees signing was the big winner for the Saints in our Flash Points polls about the make-or-break moment in the history of each NFC South franchise.

Forty-six percent of more than 50,000 voters (the highest of all the NFC South precincts) chose the signing of Brees as the biggest moment in team history. Winning Super Bowl XLIV finished second at 36 percent and the hiring of Payton was third at 17 percent.

No argument here. Hiring Payton was significant, but signing Brees is the biggest reason why the Saints went on to win a Super Bowl and make themselves more a part of the New Orleans fabric than ever before.

Let’s turn to a couple of loyal readers for affirmation.

Richard in Ann Arbor, Mich., wrote: “Signing Drew Brees has to trump all. When you take into account everything that Drew has done off the field since his arrival, winning the Super Bowl may be the least important thing that he has done for the city of New Orleans.’’

Fred in New Orleans wrote: “As much as I would like to say our turning point was hiring Jim Finks or Jim Mora or maybe even Sean Payton, I think the Saints' turning point was actually made by another team -- when the Dolphins refused to make an offer to Drew Brees. If they make a hard push for him who knows what happens next?’’

PANTHERS: Jake Delhomme's arrival game

Appearing in Super Bowl XXXVIII was the winner of the popular vote as the Flash Point for the Carolina Panthers. That loss to New England drew 42 percent of the vote, and advancing all the way to the NFC Championship Game in only the second season of an expansion franchise finished second at 28 percent.

But I’m going with a moment that wasn’t even on the ballot as my Flash Point for the Panthers -- the insertion of Jake Delhomme at quarterback at the start of the second half of the 2003 season opener against Jacksonville. An unknown career backup with the Saints, Delhomme replaced Rodney Peete and the Panthers just kept winning all the way to the Super Bowl. I was covering the Panthers on a daily basis as a beat writer at that time and as I think back, Delhomme’s emergence in that game was one of the most magical moments I’ve seen in sports.

Let me add that a vocal group of readers made a strong case that Delhomme’s debut should have been on the ballot because that was actually the moment that sparked the whole Super Bowl run. I thought about that for a couple of minutes and decided they were right. So let’s hear from a few convincing readers.

Brian in Charlotte wrote: “Jake Delhomme’s halftime entrance into the game versus Jacksonville seems to represent the best of Panthers history. The team marched to an appearance in the Super Bowl that year and, while we may not have had back-to-back winning seasons, provided the Panthers with both stability and leadership at the quarterback position for the next few years.’’

Evan in Charlotte wrote: “Carolina rode on that momentum to eventually go to the Super Bowl. That whole season was Carolina's defining moment, but it all began at that game. Everything about the Carolina Panthers changed at that moment.’’

Brian and Evan, you’re absolutely right.

BUCCANEERS: Dungy turned the tide

In the closest contest of all our polls, readers voted Tampa Bay’s victory against Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII as the defining moment in Buccaneers’ history. That got 39 percent of more than 31,000 votes. The hiring of coach Tony Dungy in 1996 finished a close second at 37 percent and the trade for Jon Gruden, the coach who actually won Tampa Bay’s lone Super Bowl, was third at 21 percent.

But I’m not going with the simple majority here. I’m going with the hiring of Dungy because I think this is a chicken-and-egg kind of thing. Much like the signing of Brees and the insertion of Delhomme led the Saints and Panthers to Super Bowls, I view the hiring of Dungy as the move that started Tampa Bay on a path to the Super Bowl.

Tampa Bay is a land of transplants and history sometimes gets lost. But I happened to be a beat writer covering the Buccaneers when Dungy was hired (heck, I was part of a media stakeout outside Bern’s Steakhouse as Dungy and ownership were inside sealing the deal).

You have to understand what the Bucs were like before Dungy arrived. They were the joke of the NFL for more than a decade. Former owner Hugh Culverhouse was despised by fans, players and the people who worked for him. The Bucs had gone for more than a decade without a winning season and good coaches such as Ray Perkins and Sam Wyche came to Tampa Bay and became horrible coaches.

Dungy (supported by new owner Malcolm Glazer) quietly changed the entire culture of the Bucs. They began winning and changed uniform colors and logos. Everything changed. Raymond James Stadium was built and filled up every week. The Bucs became consistent winners.

It’s true Dungy couldn't get Tampa Bay over the final hump. He was stubborn and conservative on offense and that got him fired. But he had the Bucs built into such a great defensive team that Gruden was able to come in, tweak the offense and win the Super Bowl in his first season. None of that would have been possible without Dungy’s contributions. He made the Bucs consistently relevant for the first time in their history.

Let’s turn to a couple comments from readers.

Darryl in Springfield, N.J., wrote: “The hiring of Dungy was huge as he helped to instill a culture of winning. However, I think another important step was drafting Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks in 1995 (the moves were made by Wyche and former general manager Rich McKay). Beyond their contributions on the field, Brooks was the heart of the Bucs, and Sapp brought a public swagger to a downtrodden franchise. The history of Sapp and Brooks in Tampa might be different without Dungy, but I think you could also argue that the history of Dungy might be very different without Sapp and Brooks."

Tim in Clearwater, Fla., wrote: “Sam Wyche drafted two first-ballot Hall of Fame players in Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks. Without these players, Dungy’s tenure in Tampa Bay would likely not have been as long or as successful.’’

True, but Sapp and Brooks didn’t do much in their one season with Wyche. When Dungy and defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin arrived, they put Sapp and Brooks into a defense that became dominant. In my eyes, it all started with Dungy.

FALCONS: Matt Ryan brought consistent winning

When it came time for Atlanta fans to weigh in on the Falcons' Flash Point, they went with the drafting of quarterback Michael Vick. That move won the vote at 39 percent, while the drafting of Ryan in 2008 came in second at 31 percent.

I’m going to dispute that one. Yes, Vick had a big impact and led the Falcons to some success. But they could never string good seasons together and Vick’s time in Atlanta came to a terrible end when he went to prison. That coupled with the disastrous tenure of coach Bobby Petrino put the Falcons as low as any NFC South team has ever been.

That was at the end of the 2007. A few months later, the Falcons drafted Ryan. Guess what? Since that moment, the Falcons have had three straight winning seasons. Before Ryan’s arrival, the franchise never even had back-to-back winning seasons. Atlanta went 13-3 last season before a disappointing playoff loss to Green Bay.

But the Falcons are built around Ryan and he’s not going anywhere for a long time. In fact, I think the Falcons are right on the cusp of huge success. Let’s turn to a reader for perspective.

Reid in Atlanta wrote: “The true 'defining moment' for the Falcons is not on your list of choices. It was when Arthur Blank purchased the team from the Smith family, who oversaw a comedy of errors and bad personnel choices for decades. Blank may be responsible for the Petrino fiasco, but otherwise his moves have been solid, and a welcome contrast to what preceded him.’’

No argument that Blank has done some great things and made the Falcons more competitive than they ever have been. But I think the best move Blank made was drafting Ryan. That’s when things really turned for the Falcons.