THIS WEEK: The New Orleans Saints will begin their pursuit of the Super Bowl XLV Championship when they travel to face the Seattle Seahawks in an NFC Wild Card matchup on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 3:30 p.m. CT.

TELEVISION: The game will be televised nationally on NBC. Tom Hammond will handle play-by-play, Mike Mayock will serve as color analyst and Alex Flanagan will be on the sidelines. The game will air in the New Orleans area on WDSU 6and*in Baton Rouge onWVLA 33. The game also airs onKPLCin Lafayette,WLBTin Jackson, MS andNBC 15 *in the Mississippi Coast.

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RADIO: Jim Henderson and Hokie Gajan will call the game on the Saints Radio Network with Kristian Garic on the Saints sidelines. The game will air live on Saints Radio Network originating on WWL 105.3 FM and 870 AM, with pre and post-game analysis. The radio pregame and postgame shows will feature former Saints Steve Korte and Bobby Hebert as well as host Deke Bellavia.

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SPANISH RADIO: Saints 2010 games air in Spanish on radio station La Fabulosa, WFNO 830 AM.  Emilio Peralta and Marco Garcia handle announcing duties.

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SERIES: The Saints and Seahawks have met 11 times with the New Orleans leading the series 6-5. The Seahawks are one of six teams that New Orleans has a winning record against all-time. In games played in Seattle, the series is tied 3-3 with New Orleans having a 1-2 record in games played at Qwest Field. Since Payton became head coach, the Saints have won both meetings between the two clubs.

The Saints' last road win in the series came in a 28-17 primetime win on October 14, 2007 at Qwest Field which saw the Saints snap a 0-4 start, as New Orleans scored all of their points in the first half. In 1976 against Seattle, the Saints equaled a club scoring record in a 51-27 win over the then-expansion Seahawks, who resided in the same division as the Saints, the NFC West, for their inaugural season. New Orleans has scored 50 or more points only two other times in franchise history.

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LAST MEETING: WEEK 11: Saints 34, Seattle Seahawks 19; November 21, 2010 @ Louisiana Superdome – QB Drew Brees tossed four touchdown passes, two apiece to WRs Marques Colston and Robert Meachem to lead the Saints to a 34-19 victory over the Seattle Seahawks to improve their record to 7-3 and remain one game out of first place in the NFC South.

In addition to an offensive explosion of a season-best 494 net yards, the Saints run defense held the Seahawks to 58 yards on the ground, only allowing them to gain 3.4 yards per carry.

Brees enjoyed one of his most impressive outings of the season as he completed 29-of-43 passes for 382 yards with four touchdown throws for a passer rating of 106.9.

Colston led the Saints in receiving with eight catches for a season-high 113 yards. With his two TD grabs, he moved into a tie for third place on the club's all-time list in scoring receptions.

RB Chris Ivory carried 23 times for 99 yards and scored his first career touchdown on a one-yard dive in the first quarter to give the Saints the lead.

The Saints defense forced Seattle RB Marshawn Lynch to cough up the ball twice in the third quarter, with recoveries by S Roman Harper and LB Scott Shanle.

• Shanle had a team-leading 12 tackles (nine solo), in addition to his third quarter strip of Lynch in New Orleans territory.

• The Saints converted 11-of-15 third down attempts (73%).

• Colston's 113-yard performance was a season-high and it was the seventh multiple touchdown performance of his career.

• Harper's third quarter forced fumble was his fourth of the season and his tenth since being drafted by New Orleans in 2006.

• The victory gave the Saints a 6-5 lead in the all-time series against the Seahawks and was their second consecutive victory against Seattle.

CONNECTIONS:Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis spent 15 years with Seattle, most recently as Executive Vice President from 1992-98. He originally joined the Seahawks in October 1983, as the team's business manager and was promoted to Vice President/finance in 1990...Director of operations James Nagaoka served on the Seahawks staff for 22 years, holding a wide spectrum of responsibilities...Director of college scouting Rick Reiprish served on the Seahawks scouting staff from 1984-94...Area scout Mike Baugh is a graduate of Central Washington University, who spent eight years in various capacities with the Seahawks from 1992-99...RB Julius Jones played for Seattle from 2008-10...DE Jeff Charleston prepped at Central (Independence, Ore.) High School and then played at Western Oregon and Idaho State...LB Jonathan Vilma and Seattle RB Leon Washington were teammates with the New York Jets. Vilma and Seattle CB Kelly Jennings were teammates at the University of Miami (Fl.)... Seattle G Stacy Andrews played at the University of Mississippi...Seahawks WR Brandon Stokley prepped at Comeaux High School and starred at Louisiana-Lafayette...S Matt Giordano and Seattle RBs Justin Forsett and Marshawn Lynch and DT Brandon Mebane were college teammates at California. Giordano, Stokley and Seattle DE Raheem Brock were teammates at Indianapolis. Charleston and LB Ramon Humber also played with Brock with the Colts...Seattle K Olindo Mare played for New Orleans in 2007. FB Heath Evans was a third round draft choice of Seattle in 2001 and played for the Seahawks from 2001-04. Evans and Mare were teammates in Miami in 2005...Assistant head coach/linebackers Joe Vitt spent 10 seasons with the Seahawks (1982-91), holding several titles during that stretch...Seattle QB J.P. Losman quarterbacked Tulane from 2000-03...LB Danny Clark and Seahawks quality control/offensive line coach Luke Butkus were teammates at the University of Illinois...S Darren Sharper  was a teammate of Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck in Green Bay from 1998-2000. Sharper and Seattle DT Colin Cole were teammates in Green Bay in 2004. TE Tory Humphrey, Cole and Seattle P Jon Ryan were teammates in Green Bay from 2006-07...Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and Seattle defensive backs coach Jerry Gray share a long affiliation. Gray served on Williams' defensive staff in Tennessee from 1997-2000. When Williams served as head coach in Buffalo from 2001-03, Gray was his coordinator and also served on his defensive staff in Washington from 2006-07. Seattle assistant offensive line coach Pat Ruel also served on his Buffalo staff. Gray coached CB Jabari Greer in Buffalo and tutored S Pierson Prioleau with the Bills and Redskins. Seattle linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., assistant special teams coach Jeff Ulbrich and Prioleau were teammates in San Francisco from 1999-2000. Williams coached Seahawks S Lawyer Milloy in Buffalo in 2003 and he played with Greer and Prioleau in the same Bills backfield. Greer and LB Kawika Mitchell were also teammates with Lynch and Losman in Buffalo...T Jon Stinchcomb  and Seattle DE Chris Clemons were college teammates at the University of Georgia...S Malcolm Jenkins and DE Will Smith played with Seattle DE Jay Richardson at Ohio State...Seattle LB Matt McCoy played for the Saints in 2007...Running game/offensive line coach Aaron Kromer, Seattle assistant offensive line coach Art Valero and defensive coordinator Gus Bradley served on the same coaching staff in Tampa Bay. Bradley served as Humber's position coach as a freshman at North Dakota State in 2005...LB Anthony Waters and Seattle QB Charlie Whitehurst were college teammates at Clemson as well as with the San Diego Chargers...QB Drew Brees and Seahawks DT Craig Terrill were teammates at Purdue...Seattle C Chris Spencer prepped at Madison Central (Miss.) High School and played at Mississippi...RB Reggie Bush, DT Sedrick Ellis, Seahawks LB Lofa Tatupu and WR Mike Williams were teammates at the University of Southern California where they were tutored by Seattle coach Pete Carroll. Bush was tutored on returns with the Trojans by Seattle special teams coach Brian Schneider. Carroll and Ruel later tutored T Charles Brown at Troy...Area scout Terry Wooden was a second round draft pick of the Seahawks in 1990 and played for Seattle from 1990-96...Pro Scout Ryan Powell is a native of Bend, Ore., who played linebacker at Linfield College and later served on their staff. Powell also worked for the Seahawks for three summers (1998-2000) as a training camp assistant...Coaching assistant Marcus Ungaro is a graduate of Washington State and native of Sammamish, Washington...Wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson played at Idaho and later served as an assistant with the Vandals from 1987-88, serving on the staff at Lewiston (Idaho) HS in between...Running backs coach Bret Ingalls is a native of Snohomish, Wash., who graduated from Idaho in 1984 and served on their coaching staff from 1982-88...Head strength & conditioning coach Dan Dalrymple went to training camp with the Seahawks in 1987...Defensive line coach Bill Johnson and Seattle offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates served on the same coaching staff in Denver from 2007-08.

NEXT WEEK: If the Saints win and Philadelphia wins the Eagles-Packers Wild Card Matchup on Sunday, New Orleans would play at Atlanta at 7 p.m. (CT) on Saturday, July 15 in an NFC Divisional Playoff matchup. If the Saints win and Green Bay wins, New Orleans would travel to Soldier Field to face the Chicago Bears on Saturday, July 16 at noon (CT).