It didn’t take the New Orleans Saints very long to claw their way out of last-place. They defeated the visiting Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to improve to 2-3 through the first five weeks, giving them a leg up on two losers from around the NFC South — the division-rival Atlanta Falcons, who the Saints defeated earlier this season, fell to 2-3 while the Carolina Panthers spiraled further to 1-4. It’s very frustrating that Carolina’s lone win came on a mistake-prone afternoon from New Orleans, but it is what it is.
That means the 3-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still ahead of the Saints by just a game and a half. If they trip up and New Orleans can keep working out their problems, they’ll be right back in the mix when the two teams meet again later this season. Here’s your updated NFC South standings after Week 5’s games: