Saints Nation: Where Things Currently Sit in the NFC South

The bye week from a football watching standpoint was pretty disappointing for the Saints as it saw both the Falcons and Buccanneers win. Right now the Falcons stand ahead of the pack at 7-2, with the Saints and Bucs just one game behind, both 6-3. The Saints currently hold the tiebreaker over the Bucs based on a head to head victory. Below are the remaining schedules for each team:

Saints

vs. Seattle
@ Dallas
@ Cincinnati
vs. St. Louis
@ Baltimore
@ Atlanta
vs. Tampa

Falcons

@ St. Louis
vs. Green Bay
@ Tampa Bay
@ Carolina
@ Seattle
vs. New Orleans
vs. Carolina

Buccaneers

@ San Francisco
@ Baltimore
vs. Atlanta
@ Washington
vs. Detroit
vs. Seattle
@ New Orleans

So all three teams have 3 remaining home games, and 4 remaining road games. Of these 7 remaining games, the Saints will have to be 2 wins better than Atlanta, and at least even with Tampa, in order to secure the division.

The combined record of remaining opponents is as follows:

Saints: 32 wins, 31 losses
Falcons: 29 wins, 34 losses
Bucs: 33 wins, 29 losses

At first glance, the Falcons play the easiest remaining schedule, which includes playing Carolina twice, while Tampa has the most difficult. The Saints will have to hope Atlanta loses at least one of their other games (home vs. Packers?) and the game against the Saints. The two toughest games for the Saints are both on the road (@ Ravens and @ Falcons). I do think Tampa is due for some loses with games against Baltimore, Atlanta, Seattle and New Orleans. @ San Fran and @ Washington are no givens for Tampa, either. Ultimately I think the Saints are going to have to come close to 7-0 or 6-1 (with a win over Atlanta) during this stretch to have any shot at winning the NFC South because Atlanta’s remaining schedule is fairly manageable. A wild card playoff spot may be more realistic. We shall see how it all unfolds.