As a giddy group of Saints took the podium following a hard-earned win over the NFC-leading Eagles, none could tell you exactly what scenario needed to occur for them to land in the postseason.
But they did know a scenario existed. Well, it did. For the second consecutive season a Saints team playing its best football down the stretch of the season found itself eliminated through a series of events that was painfully familiar.
“We’re still playing for something," Saints head coach Dennis Allen said after the game. "I haven’t paid much attention to [the playoff scenarios], so I don’t even know what happened today. I think our focus really has been to take care of our business. We set out three weeks ago that we wanted to try to go 4-0 and that’s all we could really control. We’ve been able to get three of them and we’ve got another tough opponent next week and we’ll be excited about going home and playing [the Panthers].”
The Saints had two potential roads to the playoffs, both of which were cut off in stunning fashion. The first came with yet another collapse in front of Tom Brady's Bucs. For the second-consecutive week, and the third time in the past five weeks, Tampa overcame a 10-point deficit in the 4th quarter. This time they victimized the Carolina Panthers, who went from a 21-10 lead to a 30-24 defeat in the final frame. The Saints would've still needed the Falcons to pull off a win in Week 18, but we'll never know how that scenario might've unfolded.
It was eerily similar to the final week of the 2021 season, with the Saints needing a win and a Rams victory over the 49ers to secure a spot in the postseason. The Rams got out to a 17-0 lead before ultimately losing in overtime. It was a twist of the knife to say the least, in a season that had more than its share of difficulties.
Frustrating, but not the end of the world. The Saints still retained some hope for a sneaky wild card appearance. That scenario would've required:
- Vikings beat Packers in Week 17
And then:
- Saints beat Panthers
- Rams beat Seahawks
- Packers beat Lions
A long shot, but not impossible. I mean, the Vikings are 12-3 and the Saints gave them a new opening to potentially steal the top seed in the NFC. They should be able to hold serve against a sub-.500 Packers squad and they'd never squander such a gift-wrapped opportuni... Oh, wait, they lost 41-17? Cool cool cool.
In 2021 the Saints won four of their final five games and just missed out. In 2022, the Saints have a chance to win their final four games, and they're guaranteed to miss out.
The results mean that only one playoff spot in the NFC is up for grabs, and three teams can potentially take it: The Packers, Seahawks and Lions. Of that group, the Packers "control their destiny." With a win over the Lions, they're in. It'd finish off a remarkable turnaround from a 4-8 start. Should the Lions beat the Packers, a team that's managed to turn its season around after a 1-5 start, it'd come down to the Rams-Seahawks matchup. If the Rams won, the Seahawks would get in, if the Seahawks won, they'd beat out the Vikings.
It also means that the two NFC South matchups -- Panthers at Saints and Bucs at Falcons -- are largely meaningless. It'll be the first Saints game played without any potential standings implications since Week 17 of the 2018 season. The Saints also faced the Panthers in that matchup. Teddy Bridgewater and Kyle Allen started at QB with the Saints resting a majority of their starters in advance of the postseason. The Panthers won 33-14.
It'll be similar vibes this time around, though it's likely the Saints put up more of an effort for one obvious reason: They'll be motivated to cheapen the first-round pick headed to the Eagles. The Saints' selection currently sits at No. 10, but could tick several spots down with another win and an 8-9 finish.
Game on.
