The New Orleans Saints are off to their worst start to a season in decades. However, their season is not totally lost just yet.
You see, while the Saints were in their bye week, nearly everything that could've gone right did go right. The Atlanta Falcons, who are just ahead of the black and gold in the division standings, lost their seventh game of the season, putting New Orleans just one game behind them. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers also lost on Sunday, making the Carolina Panthers the only NFC South team to make it out of week 11 with a W.
The NFC South theme is going to keep going in week 12, as the Dirty Birds come down to the Big Easy to take on the Saints. Down both their top quarterback and wide receiver, the Falcons have a big storm coming when they enter the Superdome. If the Saints take down their division rival, they officially won't be in last place in the division and will even have a path to keep going up.
If the Saints beat the Falcons, the path the top of the NFC South is... possible
The Atlanta Falcons lost to the Carolina Panthers, who just lost to the New Orleans Saints, making the Saints have stronger wins than their oldest rival. Now all the team has to do to get out of last place is to just beat the Falcons, something that they've done plenty of times before.
If the Saints take down the Falcons on Sunday, it will open up the possibility of finishing even higher than third in the division, because at that point the team would have two wins over the Falcons and Panthers. Climbing to first place still feels like a reach, but the Saints could be just three wins behind both the Panthers and Buccaneers at the end of the week. With 6 games left, at least there's a chance.
For Tyler Shough, this Sunday is his first start against one of the Saints' oldest foes and his debut in the Superdome. "I'm excited to just get on it," he said to the media when asked what he knew about the rivalry. "I'm obviously new to the rivalry, but I can feel it, though. It feels a little bit different." Shough will need to take care of business in that department before we being looking too far ahead.