Tag: eliminated

Saints officially eliminated from playoff contention

The New Orleans Saints have been officially eliminated from playoff contention:

Here’s the hole the New Orleans Saints dug for themselves. They didn’t get the help they needed from the Chicago Bears, who lost to the Green Bay Packers, securing the seventh and final NFC playoff seed for Green Bay.

This means the Saints are officially eliminated from playoff contention. Their season is over. An early-season loss to the Packers where Dennis Allen’s defense allowed back-to-back 80-yard scoring drives in the fourth quarter looms large. They have no one to blame but themselves.

So the Saints will be watching the playoffs from home while better teams advance; they’re in the same position now that they were a year ago, before they doubled down on Allen’s vision for the team and signed quarterback Derek Carr to a $150 million contract. But at least they’re 9-8 instead of 7-10 again, right?

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NFC South standings update: Falcons are first to be eliminated from playoff contention

NFC South standings update after Saints beat Browns: Falcons are first to be eliminated from playoff contention, Panthers still in the hunt

Well, well, well: the New Orleans Saints are still alive in the NFC South title race, but the same can’t be said of the division-rival Atlanta Falcons. The dirty birds are the first NFC South team to be eliminated from playoff contention after losing to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, dropping them to 5-10 on the season. They’re out of the hunt.

And the Carolina Panthers are still alive after upsetting the Detroit Lions, and interim head coach Steve Wilks has them playing surprisingly well. They won’t be a pushover in the Saints’ regular season finale.

Every team but Atlanta is sitting at 6-9 or better, but nobody has a winning record. And that keeps the Saints in play with two more games left on their regular season schedule. We’ll get a better idea of their standing within the division after the Tampa Bay Tom Brady’s square off with the Arizona Fightin’ Trace McSorley’s on Sunday night, but for now the NFC South shapes up like this:

Can the Saints be officially eliminated from playoff contention in Week 16?

The Saints can be eliminated from playoff contention this week. If they lose to the Browns, everything rides on Trace McSorley’s Cardinals against the Bucs on Sunday night:

The New Orleans Saints are hanging on by a thread. And there’s a scenario where they fall off the cliff altogether. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can take care of business against the Arizona Cardinals this week and if the Saints lose to the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans will be eliminated from the playoffs. Their only path to the postseason lies in winning the NFC South, and this elimination scenario takes that possibility off the table.

If they knock off the Cardinals, Tampa Bay will have won as many games (7) as the Saints will be able to win themselves after a loss to the Browns (putting them at 5-10). The Buccaneers could lose each of their last two games and end up in a tie with New Orleans at the end of the season (assuming the Saints win their last two games), and Tampa Bay owns the tiebreaker with a pair of head-to-head wins. Other teams competing for wild-card spots have already won more games than New Orleans would be able to win themselves after another loss, so the NFC South title is their only path forward.

Yikes. The Saints kick off in Cleveland on Saturday at noon CT, but the Bucs and Cardinals won’t match up until Sunday night (at 7:20 p.m. CT). So if New Orleans loses, fans will have something to watch for the next day. And the outlook is grim: the Cardinals are starting third-string quarterback Trace McSorley against Tom Brady’s Buccaneers after backup Colt McCoy suffered a concussion filling in for Kyler Murray, who is out for the year with a knee injury.

So there’s a startlingly real chance that the Saints’ fortunes end up weighing on McSorley’s shoulders. But they can control their own destiny (to an extent) with a win on Saturday against the Browns. Let’s hope they can handle it on their own and keep those playoff hopes alive.

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Can the Packers be officially eliminated from playoff contention in Week 16?

Only two results are required for the Packers to be eliminated from playoff contention in Week 16.

The Green Bay Packers kept their slim but improving playoff hopes alive on Monday night with a win over the Los Angeles Rams. It’s still a bit of a long shot, but the most simple path to the postseason for Matt LaFleur’s team only requires seven individual results over the final three weeks. Things are looking up. No doubt about it.

Alright, there has to be a flip side to this, right? Can the Packers be eliminated from playoff contention in Week 16?

The answer is yes. And it doesn’t take much. In fact, the Packers’ Christmas Day showdown with the Miami Dolphins can be a win-or-be-eliminated scenario if just one result happens on Christmas Eve.

Here’s the one and only elimination scenario for the Packers this week:

– Commanders win over 49ers (Dec. 24)
– Packers loss to Dolphins (Dec. 25)

If both results happen, the Packers are officially out and the final two weeks of the 2022 season won’t matter.

Can the Commanders, who lost 20-12 at home to the Giants in Week 15, rebound with a win over the surging 49ers, who just locked up the NFC West crown? It’s a long flight to San Francisco, and the 49ers look like one of the best teams in football, but Kyle Shanahan’s team is starting a rookie quarterback, so any outcome is possible.

The Packers are also going into a tough contest: Not only does Green Bay have to make the long flight south to Miami, but the Packers will be facing an explosive offense and talented football team while also dealing with a significant rest/recovery/prep disadvantage (Dolphins played Saturday, Packers played Monday). Miami has lost three straight games, but this is a good football team that will be very happy to be playing at home after three tough games on the road.

The Packers are still alive but will live on the brink of elimination the rest of the way. In Week 16, LaFleur’s team will once again be big fans of the 49ers (two weeks ago, the 49ers helped out by taking down the Seahawks) on Christmas Eve, and then the Packers have to take care of business in Miami. For all intents and purposes, one more loss by Green Bay has to be viewed as an elimination event.

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Too many self-inflicted hits squander Drew Brees’ likely-final Saints season

The New Orleans Saints were eliminated from the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after Drew Brees threw three interceptions.

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Drew Brees is leaving the Superdome, probably for the last time, after a loss. The longtime New Orleans Saints quarterback is said to be retiring after his 2020 season has concluded, which the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ensured with a 30-20 playoffs win on Sunday night.

Let’s be clear about this: the Buccaneers didn’t defeat the Saints because New Orleans beat them twice earlier this season. Tampa Bay didn’t do anything differently from those past matchups. If anything, they committed many of the same errors that cost them before, like running too often on early downs and forcing Tom Brady into trying too many difficult passes to the perimeter.

The Saints beat themselves, fair and square. Giveaways from the Saints offense — several poorly-thrown interceptions by Brees and a fumble jarred out of tight end Jared Cook’s mitt — allowed Brady to set up shop in New Orleans territory for a couple of quick drives to score each of Tampa Bay’s touchdowns. The Saints defense performed admirably, but Brees and the offense sold them out with those short fields.

Brees’ limitations were on display on a variety of passes. He couldn’t put enough air beneath his touch passes to Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas, allowing the Buccaneers defenders to undercut routes and snatch the ball in flight. Brees remains as intelligent a passer as the NFL has ever seen, but his regressed arm strength eventually made his margin for error too thin to overcome.

It’s tough to see him go out like this. He carried the team for a decade while paired with some of the worst defenses in NFL history, the likes of which Brady and their peers have never known were possible. And when the Saints finally devoted time and resources into overhauling their defense to complement Brees, it was too late.

So that’s his legacy. The Saints have won more games over the last four years than in any other four-year stretch in franchise history, but they’ve got no postseason success to show for it. They’ve only reached one conference title game, and have watched every Super Bowl in that span from home.

And now they’re entering the wilderness without the face of their franchise. There are kids in high school who have never known a Saints team not led by Brees. Where things go next is anyone’s guess, but it’s not the end for New Orleans. They’re still plenty talented on both sides of the ball, and they should be back in the playoff picture for years to come. It’s just such a shame they won’t have Brees in front with them along the way.

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The Detroit Lions have been eliminated from 2020 Playoff contention

It’s official, the Detroit Lions have been eliminated from 2020 Playoff contention.

It’s official, the Detroit Lions have been eliminated from 2020 Playoff contention.

After falling 46-25 to the Tennessee Titans in Week 15, the Lions record dropped to 5-9 overall, and the postseason is mathematically out of reach. This marks the fourth season in a row the Lions have missed the dance.

With two home games remaining on their schedule (Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings), many Lions players will be playing their final games in Detroit, while others will looking to put as much good game film on tape for the next general manager/coaching staff to evaluate.

Currently, the Lions sit 10th in the 2021 NFL draft order and a quick examination of the remaining schedule is a strong indicator the Lions will stay in the top-8 to -12 draft slots. But, if they get a lot of help, they could potentially reach as high as the top-5.

While the season is coming to a close, make sure you stay with Lions Wire during our coverage of the Lions general manager and coaching searches, our upcoming evaluation of the roster, as well as our Free Agency and NFL draft coverage.