Saints Eliminated from Playoff Contention

Well, that Wild Card scenario for the Saints was fun for all of five minutes.

John Hendrix | Jan 1, 2023

Saints Eliminated from Playoff Contention /

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New Orleans Saints

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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JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net