New Orleans Saints: Just how important is the No. 1 seed?

New Orleans Saints: Just how important is the No. 1 seed for New Orleans?

NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 26: Quarterback Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints celebrates after throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to running back Darren Sproles #43 and breaks the single-season passing record in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on December 26, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

The NFC playoff race, especially the New Orleans Saints’ quest to the top, has become quite interesting at the close of Week 13.

Between Seattle’s victory Monday night and San Francisco’s loss on Sunday, the playoff picture flipped completely on its head. The New Orleans Saints are now the No. 1 seed, and San Francisco just fell from 1st to 5th.

The Saints are 10-2 behind wins over Seattle, Houston, Dallas and many more top-tier opponents. However, their biggest challenge may be the 10-2 49ers that they’ll be watching enter the Superdome on Sunday.

That said, as it stands, the playoff picture is the following:

NFC Playoff Standings heading into Week 14 ⚜️#Saints pic.twitter.com/NUHO9DK7B3
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 3, 2019

With the Week 14 Saints-49ers matchup now having massive playoff seed implications, it’s time to start determining how paramount the No. 1 seed is to a Super Bowl berth.

Statistically speaking, a look at the past six Super Bowls offers some insight.