Saints Eliminated from Playoff Contention

For the second straight year, the Saints are out of the playoff mix. There were some brief theatrics we discussed earlier, but a win by the Packers has effectively eliminated New Orleans from playoff contention. The Bucs won the NFC South earlier, but there was still a fractional chance for the Saints to sneak in as a Wild Card. It was fun for all of five minutes.

New Orleans has one game left on their schedule, as they'll close out the regular season at home against the Panthers. The best they can finish under Dennis Allen in his first year will be 8-9, and the team is riding a three-game winning streak after upsetting the Eagles on the road Sunday.

The Saints will have plenty of things to assess this offseason, and everything we understand around the team has Dennis Allen's job being safe. Things could naturally change, but New Orleans will look to deal Sean Payton in the offseason to get back some draft compensation. There's also other areas they'll need to improve, something we looked at the end of November.

Although a playoff appearance would have been something to see, the good news is that it doesn't have to drag out another week with various scenarios having to play out.

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