The New Orleans Saints left no doubt in their 48-7 romp over the Philadelphia Eagles, improving to 9-1 for the first time since their own 2009 Super Bowl season. Where does that leave them in the playoff standings?
Big Picture
Before the Saints even kicked off against the Eagles, the rest of the NFC South embarrassed itself in three separate games. The Atlanta Falcons, who the Saints will host for Thanksgiving dinner this Thursday, failed in a comeback effort against the Dallas Cowboys. The Carolina Panthers went for broke on a last-second two-point conversion and came up short to the Detroit Lions. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in such poor shape that Jameis Winston threw another game-losing interception and he still looks like he gives the Bucs their best chance to win. The Saints have a three-game lead on their divisional rivals, but still have four games against them left on their schedule. There’s still some work left before they can claim another NFC South title.
In the broader playoff landscape, the Saints are the NFC’s #1 seed thanks to a tiebreaker win over the Los Angeles Rams. If the Rams defeat the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football, the Saints fall to the #2 seed. If the Chiefs win, the Saints hold onto that top spot. The #3 seed is the 7-3 Chicago Bears, and the #4 seed is 6-4 Washington, who just lost quarterback Alex Smith to a leg injury. It would take a late-season collapse by the Saints to lose their first round playoff bye.
This Week’s Talking Point
It’s Falcons Hate Week y’all. Atlanta fell hard from grace after last year’s wild card playoff win, and now they’re 4-6 and have to visit the same stadium where the Eagles were demolished. It will take more than star linebacker Deion Jones returning to slow down the Saints’ offense. It sounds odd, but the Saints can actually afford to drop this game and still hold onto their top-two seeding in the NFC – not that they’ll approach it that way. This rivalry game is as much about pride as anything else, and both team will play it hard. The Saints will just play harder.
We’ll Also Discuss
New Orleans is expecting reinforcements down the stretch. Wide receivers Tommylee Lewis and Ted Ginn Jr. are both working towards returning from injured reserve. Starting left tackle Terron Armstead is patiently treating a pectoral injury, and could return in a few weeks. The same is true of rookie pass rusher Marcus Davenport and his injured toe. Veteran wideout Brandon Marshall is picking up the offense in time for the final playoffs push. The Saints have played so well that they’ve deployed the second-string offense and defense in the fourth quarter each of the last two weeks. Are they about to invent a new level of NFL dominance when all this help returns?