NFL Playoffs 2019: Here Is How The Saints Can Still Clinch The No. 1 Seed
December 9, 2019
NFL Playoffs 2019: Here Is How The Saints Can Still Clinch The No. 1 Seed
The New Orleans Saints lost a heartbreaker on Sunday, but they aren't out of the top spot chase.
The New Orleans Saints lost a heartbreaker on Sunday, but they aren't out of the top spot chase.
After the weekend, the New Orleans Saints are still the only NFC team that has clinched their spot in the 2019-2020 NFL Playoffs, but things have recently taken a turn for the worse for the black and gold. Even though it appeared as if Drew Brees had led the Saints to a comeback victory, the San Francisco 49ers ended up beating New Orleans in a nail-biting 48-46 win, as recapped by ESPN.
While the NFC playoff seeds were thought to have been set, this loss has mixed them up a bit, taking the Saints from the No. 1 seed to the No. 3 seed in an instant. The Who Dat Nation shouldn’t despair, however, as their boys can still get back to number one in the final three weeks of regular season play.
Things are hardly set in stone and almost everything can change in these last weeks of the regular season. The New Orleans Saints are hoping to have a first-round bye in the playoffs and they’d certainly love to have home-field advantage as well.
To achieve that, however, the Saints will need to control what they can and do what needs to be done. That means picking up victories over the Colts, the Panthers, and the Titans — who have recently been on a winning streak — to finish up the season.
Even if New Orleans picks up those wins, it may not be enough. They will need some help from a few other teams in the league.
On Sunday Night Football, the Los Angeles Rams did the Saints a favor by defeating the Seattle Seahawks. That was absolutely necessary for New Orleans to regain number one. There is still more to be done, though. From here, the Seahawks also need to win their remaining three games, against the Panthers next week, the Cardinals the following one, and the 49ers for the final week of the regular season.
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If San Francisco wins their other two remaining games, they, along with the Saints and the Seahawks, will all end the season at 13-3. The Seahawks would have the tiebreaker over the 49ers and win the NFC West. This would throw San Francisco back into the fifth seed since they didn’t win their division.
As winners of the NFC West, the Seahawks would jump into the top four seeds. However, the Saints will win the tiebreaker with Seattle due to an earlier season victory.
At the very worst, the Saints will end up as the number three seed from the NFC in the playoffs. Whichever team wins the NFC East can’t possibly match New Orleans’ record. Of course, the Saints want to end up in a higher seed, as they would like the road to the Super Bowl to go through the Superdome.