The Saints are back even with three games to go in the regular season. It wasn't so long ago that I said that this New Orleans team was drawing major parallels to the 2021 squad. Like that team, they were 5-7 and were able to earn big wins which came on the road at the time to pull even, but weren't able to totally finish the job. This season, everything is front of Dennis Allen's team.
There's two road games upcoming for the Saints, with them playing a major one against the Rams on a short week before getting a mini-bye to tackle their final two divisional opponents in the Bucs and Falcons. Considering how this season has gone for New Orleans with the ups and downs of it, they are about to truly face their biggest stretch and test of the year. It's one that completely brings everyone under a microscope and could dictate futures.
The Saints are tied for the NFC South lead with the Bucs at 7-7, but Tampa holds the tiebreaker right now and would be the fourth seed if the playoffs started today. Before the afternoon slate of games concludes, New Orleans was actually holding the final playoff spot in the conference. However, a Rams win moved them back to eighth. Suddenly, that game in Los Angeles takes on an even bigger meaning.
NFC Wild Card Bubble - Final Three-Game Slate
- Bucs (7-7): Jaguars, Saints, at Panthers
- Vikings (7-7): Lions, Packers, at Lions
- Rams (7-7): Saints, at Giants, at 49ers
- Saints (7-7): at Rams, at Bucs, Falcons
- Seahawks (6-7): at Titans, Steelers, at Cardinals (play Eagles on MNF)
- Falcons (6-8): Colts, at Bears, at Saints
- Packers (6-8): at Panthers, at Vikings, Bears
New Orleans just pieced together one of their most complete performances of the season after beating the Giants 24-6, and the locker room is feeling it. No matter how hard and tough things have gone for the Saints, they've stayed together and have blocked a ton of the outside noise.
The players have a day off on Monday, and the focus for everyone is to get their bodies right and to shift the focus to Thursday against the Rams. Demario Davis, who had a heck of a game and was one of the many players who stepped up in a big way on Sunday, said it all when addressing the team in the locker room after the game.
Davis said, "Everything is about Thursday. Because all of this will go down the drain if we don't take care of business come Thursday."
The Saints best course here is to win out to not leave things to chance or a fate that they won't be able to control, but if they can get at least two of the next three, there's a really good chance we see New Orleans in the postseason with how other schedules are shaping up. We'll see how ready they are when they play the Rams.
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