Can the Saints still get a bye in the playoffs?

The New Orleans Saints are coming off their second loss of the season to the Atlanta Falcons. Do the Saints have what it takes to earn a first-round bye?

Last Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons came out of nowhere, but the New Orleans Saints have to regroup. They are still one of the better teams in the NFC, entering Sunday afternoon’s road game against another division rival in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 7-2. But with that loss, it certainly complicates things for them atop the NFC. Can the Saints still get a first-round bye?

On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Mark Carman, along with former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, look at the Saints and see if they can hold steady and remain one of the two best teams in the NFC at the end of the season (38:28).

“I think they can be a one-seed,” said Schwartz. “I’m definitely in on this. They still have the [San Francisco 49ers] at home. You win that game and you have the tiebreaker against them. The [Green Bay] Packers still have a decently tough schedule down the stretch, they still have to play the [Minnesota] Vikings one more time.”

“The Saints’ division stinks,” said Verderame. “I know that they just lost to the Falcons, but I don’t care. They’re still going to win most of those games in that division, they’re probably going to handle the Bucs this week. So I would say that I’m still in on the Saints at least being able to get a two-seed.”

At this time, there are only a handful of teams that can realistically compete for a top-two seed. We’ve mentioned the Saints, the 49ers and the Packers, but the Seattle Seahawks are not far off at 8-2, albeit trailing the 49ers in the NFC West right now, but they do have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the 49ers at this time.

Overall, the Saints are in prime possession to get a top-two seed because the second-best team in the NFC South in the Carolina Panthers isn’t probably going to make the playoffs. Both San Francisco and Seattle are and the Packers will be challenged by the Vikings in the NFC North. The Saints should be able to get to around 12 wins and be in contention for a top-two seed.

Here are a few other topics discussed on this week’s episode of Stacking the Box:

• Who is the frontrunner in the NFC? (5:00)
• Geoff thinks the Saints are NFC’s best (6:56)
• What was the biggest upset of Week 10? (7:41)
• Do the Bengals get the No. 1 pick? (43:25)

All this and more!

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