The NFL’s Week 16 games are full of implications for the New Orleans Saints and the NFC playoff picture. Here’s your game-by-game list of rooting interests, so that Saints fans will know which team to pull for in each matchup. All odds are sourced from BetMGM.

Around the NFC South

New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans. New Orleans by 2.5. A Saints win keeps them in the conversation for a top-two playoff seed. They won’t finish worse than third, but could really use a bye week to rest up.

Houston Texans at Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Houston by 7.5. The Buccaneers might be stuck with Jameis Winston if he finds a way to win here. Root for a Texans loss.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta by 7.5. A Falcons victory increases the chances of Dan Quinn sticking around, which would help the Saints. Pull for the Jaguars to lose.

Carolina Panthers at Indianapolis Colts. Indianapolis by 7.5. The Panthers can hurt their draft positioning by falling backwards into a win, so root for it to happen.

Painting the NFC Playoff Picture

Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco by 6.5. This is tough — a Rams win keeps the door (narrowly) open for them to get into the playoffs. A 49ers win would keep them in the race for the NFC West title and a top-two seed, ahead of the Saints. Root for the Rams to win this week and lose next time.

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles. Dallas by 1.5. Neither of these teams are good. The Saints can run either one of them off the field, in the playoffs or next season (they’ll have to visit the NFC East champions in 2020). But the Cowboys have given the Saints more trouble than the Eagles lately, so root for an Eagles upset.

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks. Seattle by 9.5. A Seahawks loss would help the Saints get back into the race for a top-two seed, so root for it (assuming the 49ers slip up first against the Rams on Saturday).

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota by 3.5. The Saints need the Packers to lose and break their three-way tie with the Seahawks. It’s fine if you can’t stomach rooting for the Vikings, so think of it has pulling for a Packers loss more than anything.

Leftovers and Lagniappe

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots. New England by 6.5. Never root for the Patriots, unless the Falcons have a 28-3 lead over them in the Super Bowl. Go Bills.

New York Giants at Washington Redskins. Washington by 1.5. The “Chase Young Bowl” should be sloppy as two rookie quarterbacks to try make magic without much around them. Just be happy you don’t have to watch this game. Root for the Giants, because Washington owner Dan Snyder is the worst.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets. Pittsburgh by 2.5. The Steelers have battled through a ton of adversity this season — injuries, personnel shakeups, a tough schedule — and it would do a lot to silence the ridiculous idea that Ben Roethlisberger may be a stronger Hall of Fame candidate than Drew Brees if they make the playoffs without him.

Cincinnati Bengals at Miami Dolphins. Cincinnati by 1.5. This game might be the “Joe Burrow Bowl” given the Bengals’ draft positioning and the Dolphins’ war chest of draft picks to trade up with. But root for ex-Saints linebacker Vince Biegel to get a late-season win for Miami after his breakout season.

Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns. Baltimore by 9.5. It still hurts that the Saints couldn’t keep Mark Ingram in town, but it’s been great to see him living his best life with the Ravens. Root for him to keep it rolling in the AFC.

Detroit Lions at Denver Broncos. Denver by 6.5. The Saints will visit the Broncos next year, and they don’t nee Denver to build any momentum to carry over into the next season. Root for the Lions.

Oakland Raiders at Los Angeles Chargers. Los Angeles by 6.5. This stadium might feel like a home game for Oakland, and those fans have endured enough this year as it is. Pull for the Raiders to help end their year with a win.

Kansas City Chiefs at Chicago Bears. Kansas City by 4.5. The Bears are eliminated from the playoffs, but it would be great to see them tethered stronger to bad quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with an inopportune win.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

[vertical-gallery id=25083]