With the Atlanta Falcons 34-7 victory over the hapless New York Giants on Sunday, the New Orleans Saints have been officially eliminated from postseason contention. The Saints would have also been eliminated if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.
New Orleans had already been eliminated from earning a Wild Card spot before this week. However, they had one remaining scenario to still get into the playoffs by winning the NFC South title.
Entering Week 16, New Orleans needed to win all of their remaining three games while also needing both Atlanta and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to lose their last three games.
This is the fourth straight year that New Orleans has missed the playoffs. It's their longest stretch without a postseason appearance since a five-year period between 2001 and 2005. That was part of a stretch where the Saints made just one playoff trip (2000) over 13-year period.
What doomed the Saints this year was a seven-game losing streak after winning their first two games to start the year. Four of those losses were to conference opponents, including three to NFC South rivals.
The last of those seven straight losses, on the road at woeful Carolina, caused New Orleans to fire coach Dennis Allen. They've played noticeably better under interim coach Darren Rizzi, but it's been a case of too little, too late.
Currently 5-9, New Orleans faces 10-4 Green Bay on the road on Monday night this week. Of the Saints nine losses, six were to NFC opponents. Their 4-6 conference record all but guaranteed them to come up on the short end of most tiebreaker scenarios for either the division title or wild-card spot.
Four losses in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, including three in the waning seconds, drastically changed the outlook of the season. However, good teams find a way to win those games.
In the last three of these four years, New Orleans had put themselves in a position where they needed to win out while still depending on outside help to sneak into the postseason. Again, good teams are suppose to do what it takes to control their own destiny.
The Saints are not going to the playoffs because they simply did not take care of business on the field. As a result, this franchise faces several crucial and difficult decisions this offseason if they hope to get back into the upper echelon of the NFL.
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