Below, James Varney, of the Times-Picayune, recaps the New Orleans Saints' 41-36 NFC playoff loss, to the Seattle Seahawks, on Saturday.

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Running back Marshawn Lynch #24 of the Seattle Seahawks runs for a 67-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter as Darren Sharper #42 of the New Orleans Saints misses a tackle during the 2011 NFC wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field on January 8, 2011 in Seattle, Washington.

Courtesy---James Varney/Times-Picayune

The Saints were in the red zone seven times Saturday, a stat quarterback Drew Brees said is practically unheard of in defeat. The key factor in the game, he said, was the Saints' failure to get touchdowns on three of those trips, failure that beset New Orleans as it approached the goal line.

"We made it inside the red zone seven times, seven times," Brees said as if he still couldn't believe it. "We came away with four touchdowns, three field goals. The unfortunate thing for us offensively is I think all three times we got stopped it was inside the 5-yard line. So just imagine if we could have gotten one more touchdown, or two more out of those three stops. I don't know, maybe this is a different game, a different outcome."

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2011/01/recapping_the_new_orleans_sain_22.html

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