Unlike some stadiums in the NFL, the Caesars Superdome doesn't have a dedicated screen that shows out of town scores.
The results of other NFL games will sporadically appear on the screens in the stadium. If Derek Carr had his way, that wouldn't happen at all in Week 18, even with the Saints in need of a Panthers win over the Bucs to have any chance at the NFC South crown, and with those two games going off simultaneously.
"I may be able to pull a few strings playing quarterback, but no, I don’t want to know any of that," Carr said when asked this week.
It's certainly the most prudent approach for the Saints, even if it's unlikely to happen. Fans in the stands will certainly be tracking the other NFC South clash throughout, and it'll be on the players to stay focused. If the Saints don't beat the Falcons, no other results matter, at least not for New Orleans. The Atlanta squad on the opposite sideline can win the NFC South as well in a similar scenario.
"I just want, again, our guys to be focused on the task at hand, because if we’re worried about those things, Atlanta is way too good of a team to not be thinking 100% on," Carr said. "You can’t do that. They will come in here and beat us by 40 if we start thinking about that kind of stuff."
Saints head coach Dennis Allen echoed his quarterback this week when asked a similar question, and he knows a thing or two about this exact scenario. In 2021 the Saints also faced the Falcons in Week 18 and won to get to 9-8 with a chance at the postseason. New Orleans needed the Rams to beat the 49ers, and L.A. had a 17-3 lead at halftime, then led 24-17 in the 4th quarter. The Saints got back to their locker room after a win in time to watch their playoff hopes evaporate in overtime at SoFi Field.
New Orleans will be hoping for a different result this time around, but they can't do anything about it other than win their game.
"None of those other things matter if we don’t take care of business against Atlanta, and so I think you’ve got to keep the main thing the main thing," Allen said. "I think you’ve got to focus on doing everything that we have to do to be able to win this game against Atlanta and then the things that we don’t control, then that’s in somebody else’s hands.”
This time around the Saints will at least have a backup plan if the initial result doesn't come through. Should the Saints and Bucs both win, attention will turn to the afternoon window with the Cardinals hosting the Seahawks and the Packers hosting the Bears. The Saints would need losses by both Seattle and Green Bay in that scenario to secure a wild card.
"Our mindset has to be completely and solely on Atlanta and winning our game," Carr said, "and hopefully hear some cheers in the stands afterward."
