The Facts: This was Brees’ 18th season as an NFL quarterback, and Sunday was his third conference title game. On a night when he made it clear he would return for a 19th season, the reality is still that he does not have many more cracks left at this. “Each one of these is unique,” Brees said. “Each one is special. I’m not getting any younger, though some days I feel like it.”

Diehards Line:These dwindling shots at the pinnacle of his profession made Sunday’s 26-23 overtime loss to the Rams a bitter pill to swallow in so many ways. There was, of course, the now infamous no-call on his third-down pass to Tommylee Lewis late in the fourth quarter, when Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman arrived well before the ball and knocked Lewis to the ground with no repercussion from the officials. The Saints were forced to kick a go-ahead field goal when they should have been given a fresh set of downs with less than two minutes remaining and the Rams having no timeouts remaining. “You feel like that was something out of your control,” Brees said. “And I like to focus on the things that I can control.” As Profootballtalk.com suggested, for now, that’s getting ready for another season, the final one on his contract.