While it hasn’t been the smoothest ride, the New Orleans Saints currently sit atop the NFC South and have a good shot of making the playoffs. Of course, there is still a lot of football to be played, and New Orleans can’t afford to coast to the finish line. If this team wants to make the postseason for the first time since the Drew Brees Era, they’ll need to keep their foot on the gas and keep a close eye on their division rivals.
How the New Orleans Saints Can Make the Playoffs
Step 1: Take Care of Business
The Saints currently hold a one-game lead in the division, which means that they control their own playoff destiny. If the team wins every game from now until the end of the season, they will make it to the postseason. However, that’s a bit of an unrealistic goal. This is definitely the best Saints team since Brees announced his retirement, but nobody is confusing this unit with the 1985 Chicago Bears. Fortunately, their remaining schedule is a favorable one.
Starting on Sunday, the Saints will close out the season against the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Falcons again. While there is no such thing as an easy win in the NFL, this isn’t the hardest gauntlet of opponents. Right off the bat, the Saints should comfortably win their matchups against the Panthers, Giants, and Rams, getting them to a minimum of eight wins on the season. The only clear loss on the schedule is the Detroit Lions, and the other four games are basically toss-ups. So, by this rough math, the Saints should finish with about 10 wins.
Of course, the most important toss-ups on the schedule are the three divisional contests. It’s not the end of the world if the Saints lose to Josh Dobbs’ Vikings, but their playoff hopes will take a huge hit if they lose to the Buccaneers and especially the Atlanta Falcons. At 4-5, the Falcons are breathing down the Saints neck and, with two games left on the slate, could take the division via tiebreaker if the Saints drop both contests.
Step 2: Watch the Division
The Carolina Panthers are basically out of the postseason race, but the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers still have a fighting chance. As mentioned earlier, the Falcons are just one game behind the Saints, while Tampa Bay is 1.5 games out. The Falcons have some promising pieces but are ultimately brought down by their atrocious quarterback situation. On the other side of the coin, Baker Mayfield is basically singlehandedly powering an aging Tampa Bay Bucccaneers roster. Basically, both of these teams deserve their sub-500 record but are good enough to beat up weak competition.
Much like the Saints, the Falcons have a relatively easy final stretch, with games against the Cardinals, Saints, Jets, Buccaneers, Panthers, Colts, Bears, and Saints again. Assuming Taylor Heinicke doesn’t singlehandedly lose any games, Atlanta should be able to win four of those games pretty comfortably, with the remaining four being a toss-up. Again, doing rough math, that gives them 10 wins.
Ultimately, the Saints chance at the playoffs will likely come down to what happens in those two matchups against the Atlanta Falcons. New Orleans is the better roster, but weird things can happen in one-game samples. New Orleans can’t afford to overlook their divisional rival, or else they might spend yet another January on the couch.
Main Photo: Stephen Lew – USA Today Sports
