How Saints can clinch first-round bye week or No. 1 seed in Week 17

The New Orleans Saints have already punched their playoff ticket, but several clinch scenarios depend on the Packers, 49ers, and Seahawks.

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The New Orleans Saints have already punched their ticket for the NFC playoff tournament, but they didn’t get any help from the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night. The Vikings, sunk by an awful performance from franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins, put in a pathetic effort against the Green bay Packers and made New Orleans’ path to a top-two playoff seed (and the bye week it carries) much more difficult.

Winning that first-round bye or securing homefield advantage throughout the playoffs are well within reach for New Orleans, but they’ll need plenty of help. Fortunately, the NFL is here to clear things up. Here are each of the playoff clinch scenarios relevant to the Saints in Week 17.

Saints clinch first-round bye

Saints beat Panthers, and Packers lose/tie Lions OR
Saints beat Panthers, and 49ers lose/tie Seahawks OR
Saints tie Panthers, and Packers lose to Lions OR
Saints tie Panthers, and 49ers lose to Seahawks OR
49ers lose to Seahawks, and Packers beat or tie Lions

Saints clinch No. 1 seed in NFC

Saints beat Panthers, Packers lose/tie Lions, and 49ers lose/tie Seahawks OR
Saints tie Panthers, Packers lose to Lions, and 49ers lose to Seahawks

Complicated as that all may be, it’s kind of what we expected: the Saints have to beat the Panthers on Sunday to reach their easiest path to the playoffs. After that, things move out of their hands. The Saints don’t need both the Packers and 49ers to trip up and lose in Week 17, either of them doing that is enough to clinch a playoff bye. And that’s really what’s most important, even if homefield advantage would be nice. The Saints have gone 6-1 on the road in 2019, and their road record speaks for itself — they’ve won 17 of their last 24 away games, going back to the 2017 season, including 13 of their last 15. New Orleans has built a team that can travel well and beat any team in any venue in the league. But they could sure use an extra week to rest up and prepare before making their playoffs debut.

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Texans win and they’re in: NFL playoffs scenarios for Week 16

The Houston Texans are in the playoffs if they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. See the other NFL playoffs scenarios for Week 16.

In the penultimate week of the regular season, there are playoff scenarios aplenty. The fun part for the Houston Texans is that they are a part of the conversion as opposed to being apart from it.

houston texans

texans-get-run-game-going-again — Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Texans are in the playoffs by virtue of winning the AFC South if they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CT at Raymond James Stadium.

Another scenario has the Texans winning the division if they tie with the Buccaneers and the Tennessee Titans tie with the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

Another scenario has the Texans winning the division if they lose and the Titans also lose.

The Texans can get a playoff berth, but not necessarily win the division, if they tie and the Steelers tie, or if the Steelers just flat out lose.

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NFL playoff picture: Saints can clinch NFC South, postseason berth

The New Orleans Saints can claim their place in the NFL playoff picture with a win over the Atlanta Falcons, which would win the NFC South.

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There’s going to be a lot on the line when the New Orleans Saints visit the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football. With a win, the Saints can clinch their third straight NFC South crown; with a loss, it will take some help for them to exit Week 13 with a division title, but it’s still possible.

Beyond bragging rights, winning the NFC South gives the Saints a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. They’re the only team that can earn its place in the postseason tournament with a win this week, though the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots can each punch their ticket if a few other things go their way.

Here are the possible playoff scenarios the NFL confirmed Tuesday:

How the Saints can clinch the NFC South

Simply beating the Falcons on Thanksgiving night will be enough for New Orleans. But if they come up short, a loss or tie by the Carolina Panthers (who play the Washington Redskins on Sunday) would allow the Saints to back into a division win.

How the 49ers can clinch a playoff berth

Things are more complicated for San Francisco. They’re one of the two hottest teams in the NFL right now, and they have to compete with the other candidate (the Baltimore Ravens) on the road on Sunday. If the 49ers beat or tie with Lamar Jackson, Mark Ingram, and the Ravens they’ll have to check into the Los Angeles Rams’ road game with the Arizona Cardinals. If San Francisco wins or ties, it’ll take a Rams tie or loss to get them into the playoffs this week.

How the Patriots can clinch the playoff berth

Meanwhile in the AFC, New England has to bag a road win against this week’s opponent: Deshaun Watson and the cornered Houston Texans. If they can do that, all eyes turn to the Pittsburgh Steelers (who are hosting the Cleveland Browns), Oakland Raiders (visiting the Kansas City Chiefs), and Indianapolis Colts (versus the Tennessee Titans). If either of those two first two teams lose and the Patriots win, New England clinches a playoff berth.

However, if the Patriots tie with the Texans, it’ll take one of several different combinations to punch their ticket. It’s complicated, so we’ve broken each scenario down below:

Raiders loss and Steelers loss
Raiders loss and Colts loss
Steelers loss and Colts loss

So those are somewhat long odds. As long as the Saints can handle their business against Atlanta on Thursday, they and their fans can spend the long holiday weekend kicked back and relaxed, watching lesser teams fight and scrap their way into the postseason.

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