After the loss in St. Louis the Saints now sit at 10-4 tied with the Panthers atop the NFC South. Of course the Saints are technically in 1st, currently, thanks to the win against the Panthers in New Orleans. The Saints can still miss out on the playoffs entirely, and they can still clinch the 2 seed and get a first round bye. It is now mathematically impossible for them to get the 1 seed, which belongs to Seattle. Here's what can still happen:
1. If the Saints beat the Panthers on Sunday:
The Saints win the NFC South, clinch the 2 seed, and get a 1st round playoff bye. It renders the week 17 home game against the Bucs as unimportant.
2. If the Panthers beat the Saints on Sunday:
With a loss, the Panthers would be in 1st place and the Saints would be in the wild card slot. The 49ers are also 10-4, so assuming they win and the Saints lose, the Saints would be in the final 6 slot. The Saints could still win the division and 2 seed under this scenario, if they beat the Bucs the following week and the Panthers lost to the Falcons. Unlikely, but possible.
If the Panthers win their last two games, the Saints would have to hope for a wild card. A win vs. the Bucs at home would secure a playoff berth as a wild card (again if the Panthers win out).
The other teams in contention for a wild card are the 49ers (10-4) and the Cardinals (9-5). The Saints have beaten both teams, so they own the tiebreaker over both. The only way the Saints miss out on the playoffs entirely is if the 49ers win at least one game, and the Cardinals win out, and the Saints lose out. And the 5 seed vs. the 6 seed would depend on who ends up with a better record.
The Panthers host the Saints then go to Atlanta.
The 49ers host the Falcons then travel to Arizona.
The Cardinals travel to Seattle, then host the 49ers.
With that schedule it will be tough for the Cardinals to win out, but it's possible that both games will be meaningless to their opponents. The Seahawks have already clinched the top seed and the 49ers will clinch a wild card with a win at home against Atlanta. If they do that, it could make week 17 less important to them than Arizona. So while Arizona's schedule looks tough, they may not get a true effort from the opposition in either game as they fight for a playoff spot. But regardless, the Saints would still have to lose to the Bucs at home to miss out on the playoffs alltogether.
So in summary we're looking at:
1. Beat Panthers, Saints win NFC SOUTH and 2 seed. Bucs game would not matter.
2. Lose to Panthers, they lose to Falcons, beat Bucs, Saints win NFC South and 2 seed.
3. Lose to Panthers, they beat Falcons, beat Bucs, the Saints are the 5 seed.
4. Lose to Panthers and Bucs, the Saints need one Cardinals loss to secure playoff spot as 6 seed (or two 49ers losses).
5. Lose to Panthers and Bucs, Cardinals win out, 49ers beat Falcons, Saints are out of the playoffs.
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