The New Orleans Saints were eliminated from the NFC playoffs, on Saturday, after falling to the Seattle Seahawks, 41-36, in Seattle, Washington. Guerry Smith, of the New Orleans Sports Examiner, has five thoughts on the stunning loss, below.

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Quarterback Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints walks off the field after the Saints were defeated 41-36 by the Seattle Seahawks during the 2011 NFC wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field on January 8, 2011 in Seattle, Washington

Courtesy---Guerry Smith/New Orleans Sports Examiner

1) The No. 1 culprit was not the coaching or the injuries or the crowd. It was Roman Harper’s first-half performance.

Clearly, the Saints did not match the Seahawks’ intensity level after the 10-0 start. But without Harper’s inexplicable nightmare of a first half, New Orleans would have won. Relatively comfortably.

http://www.examiner.com/sports-in-new-orleans/five-thoughts-on-the-saints-sad-performance-seattle

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