The New Orleans Saints are in an unenviable position as they approach the final two games of the 2023 season.
At 7-8 and on the wrong side of basically every tiebreaker, they retain a shot at the postseason, but only if they win out and get a lot of help. It's the type of just good enough to be frustrating scenario that WWL's Bobby Hebert termed this week as NFL "limbo."
Hear more from Bobby Hebert and SportsTalk in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"I think either you’re a championship team and you’re trending in that direction, or you’re in the bottom of the league where you have no chance and then a number of organizations would blow things up," Hebert said this week on SportsTalk, "but we’re like in limbo."
The figures would bear that out. Since reaching the divisional round of the playoffs in 2020 the Saints have gone a combined 23-26. Wins in their final two games would mark something of an encouraging finish, but far below expectations with one of the league's easiest schedules.
The Saints have consistently beaten bad teams this season, with just one win over a team with a winning record (Colts). Five of their other six wins have come against teams in last place in their divisions (Panthers, Patriots, Bears, Titans). In matchups against other teams hovering around .500 and contending for the playoffs (Jaguars, Vikings, Rams, Texans), the Saints have frequently found themselves trailing by double-digits early and unable to rally back.
Related
"It’s not PE class. You can’t just have a product out there that’s competitive. You’ve got to give the fans hope, and how you give the fans hope is playing in the postseason," Hebert continued. "Now, once you’re in the postseason anything can happen, even if you’re a wild card team, you might look at the parity in the league. I mean, who is going to be in that final number to be in the postseason, which the Saints had a great opportunity. Even if they’ve been up and down, but when it comes time to put up or shut up, they’ve shut up."
The Saints will not win more than two consecutive games at any point in the 2022 season, and another loss would clinch a second consecutive losing season under head coach Dennis Allen, who has not guided a team to a winning record in his head coaching career.
"The bottom line … it’s a production business. You can be a great individual, a nice person, good family man, but it doesn’t matter. You can be an SOB and if you win, nobody likes you, that’s what counts. Bottom line, you’ve got to win. Now, you want an upstanding citizen that wins football games. It doesn’t matter what the position. Now, you can be a player who’s not really good with the public, but he’s not getting arrested, but you’re winning games, because if you’re winning games, I’m telling you, you’re kind of looking away. We’re used to a winning product on the field. That’s the bottom line in the NFL."
The Saints (7-8) now travel to face the Bucs (8-7) in Week 17, a game in which Tampa can clinch its third consecutive NFC South title with a victory. Should the Saints win they'll retain hopes for the division title through the final week of the season, but that would require a win over the Falcons, and a Panthers victory over the Bucs. The Saints also have a slim hope at the wild card, but those could be dashed as well with either a Saints loss or wins by both the Seahawks and Rams in Week 17.