In the NFC South, sometimes known as the Land of Mediocrity, everything is on the line. There is still a potential for three teams, none of which had a winning record going into Week 18, to win the division and secure a home playoff game. At the conclusion of the NFL regular season, which team will be at the top of the standings—the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Atlanta Falcons, or the New Orleans Saints.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the clearest route to win the division. They can pursue their goal without help from other teams. The team led by Todd Bowles wins and moves on. Furthermore, the NFL’s poorest club by a wide margin, the Carolina Panthers, are the team obstructing the “win” portion.
The regular season finale will feature the Saints and Falcons playing against each other. To win the division, either team would need to win and the Bucs would need to lose. In contrast, New Orleans can secure a wild card place with a win, a Seattle Seahawks loss or tie, and a Green Bay Packers defeat or tie. For Atlanta, it’s NFC South or bust.
After all of that, is there any reason to think that the Saints will actually host a postseason game at the Superdome the following week? Below, we’ll go over three of them.
This week, Saints general manager Mickey Loomis expressed his expectation that, as usual, the home game against the Patriots in Week 18 would be boisterous. And that could prove to be the deciding factor in the Falcons vs. Saints game.
It’s not as though the 2023 squad led by Dennis Allen has been unstoppable at home. In the Superdome, the Saints are winning—barely. However, home field advantage is granted because four wins is greater than three loses.
In related news, the Falcons have had difficulty playing away from home. The record of Arthur Smith’s team away from Atlanta is 2-6. The two triumphs? a 13-8 triumph over the Tim Boyle-led New York Jets and a 16-13 triumph over the Bucs. That’s plenty to say.
