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The Saints' home defeat against the Buccaneers – a 48-40 victory at Tampa Bay in Week 1 – gives the impression that this happened four million years ago. In a way under Sean Payton and with Drew Brees, the Saints just have not been very good at starting the season. For several years, it has continued beyond the first two weeks of the season, but over the past two years, the Saints began relentlessly clicking around the fourth week and became totally nuclear.
That's what's happening right now and the final installment of Payton's Destroy the World tour landed in Cincinnati, while the Saints escaped against the Bengals in a match that clearly showed the gap between a very good team and a very good team in the NFL. It's chasmic.
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New Orleans stands out from the pack with three trips on the road in four weeks, including clashes in Baltimore, Minnesota and later Cincy with a home match against Rams sandwiched between the Vikings and the Bengals.
In those games, the Saints went 4-0 and averaged 38 points. In his last five games, Brees has 13 touchdowns and 30 unfinished. Read this again. Thirty incompletions.
The Saints' offense worked well last year when they scared everyone into believing they could do another Super Bowl race. The defense also begins to do its part, limiting the number of points compared to certain decent offenses and generating many turnarounds.
Los Angeles again won Sunday, giving them first place in the NFC … for now.
But the Saints are the best football team. Their only defeat is this egg against the Bucs in the first week. Since then, they have managed to hold the table, compete against all the players and put themselves in a position to win the NFC South and secure the first place of the conference. Carolina will have something to say about it. the Panthers and Saints will play twice in the last three weeks of the season and these games could turn the tide.
But good luck to Carolina to come to New Orleans and try to win. Slowing down the Saints is the most difficult task of football right now.
Here's what the rest of the playoff picture looks like in the NFL, as well as an overview of some games that could affect what it looks like after the 10th week and beyond.
AFC: Who is in
1. Kansas City Chiefs (9-1)
The Chiefs did not cover, but they did well against the Cardinals, winning a two-digit home win and putting themselves in an excellent position to secure the top spot in the standings. Note, however, that they lost to the Patriots, which hurts them in terms of a tiebreaker (although Tennessee helped them a lot on Sunday) and they play Rams next week, with the Chargers on the heels. division.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2-1)
The Steelers crushed the Panthers Thursday night and earned a mini-bye before playing the Jags in Jacksonville, with a chance to avenge last year while Jacksonville will heal his injuries. Hard to believe just a few weeks ago, the Steelers were tied with Cleveland in the basement of AFC North. They are driving right now.
3. Patriots of New England (7-3)
May be a total loss for New England Sunday in Nashville. They are doing well to win the division and organize a playoff game. There is nothing else impressive in the east of the AFC. But the Pats have a problem in hand, the AFC in general looks much more dangerous than we thought and offers several contenders to the bye. There are four very good teams competing for the first two places.
4. Houston Texans (6-3)
It's not a perfect week off for Houston as Tennessee has won and Indy continues to build on her playoff potential. But the Texans probably needed a break for everyone to rest and for Deshaun Watson to be healthy. They still have a two-game lead in AFC South.
5. Los Angeles Chargers (7-2)
The Chargers managed their affairs against Oakland, easily winning 14 points, although they struggled through the first half.
6. Cincinnati Bengals (5-4)
The Bengals did not look like a playoff team against the Saints. They spit a 50-ha burger against Drew Brees and Co. before losing 51-14. A J. The green is not expected until December. They are only based on the conference record: the Bengals are 3-2, which is superior to the Dolphins (4-3) and the Titans (3-4).
AFC: Who went out
7. Tennessee Titans (5-4): What a terrifying victory for Tennessee on Sunday. The Titans advanced the Patriots and Marcus Mariota dominated Tom Brady while Tennessee won a huge conference victory. If they play as they played on Sunday, it is absolutely a qualified team for the playoffs.
8. Miami Dolphins (5-5): The Dolphins delivered a decent fight against Green Bay Sunday afternoon.
9. Baltimore Ravens (4-5): The crows are on a bye.
10. Colts of Indianapolis (4-5): The Colts have stood firm at home against the Jags to give some life to their hopes for AFC South. They may have one of the best offensive lines in the league right now and Andrew Luck is protected at a high level by players in front of him and his coaching staff. It's a dangerous team.
11. Cleveland Browns (3-6-1): Gregg Williams has two wins tied with Hue Jackson's total wins. Baker Mayfield and Nick Chubb should give Brown fans a lot of hope for the long-term future.
12. Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6): The past week has not corrected what hurts the Jags and they are in a dangerous situation in terms of testing to do any kind of playoffs after high hopes early in the season .
13. Denver Broncos (3-6): Denver is on a bye this week.
14. Buffalo Bills (3-7): Matt Barkley, MVP? The bills hit the Jets Sunday, covering themselves. Please do not question they were beating Alabama. They would certainly do it.
15. New York Jets (3-7): Humiliating effort by the Jets, which could eventually get Todd Bowles fired as early as this week.
16. Oakland Raiders (1-8): The Raiders have been beaten again and tend to become the first team eliminated from the playoff race.
AFC: Who's eliminated
Nobody … again.
NFC: Who is in
1. Los Angeles Rams (9-1)
The Rams defeated a dashing Seahawks squad to win the No. 1 seed of the Saints, at least if the playoffs started today. Of course, they do not have any – L.A still has a leave for the 12th week and a duel against the Chiefs next week. The Rams offensive was on Sunday, but it looks like they lost Cooper Kupp for a long time. Defensively, they are still struggling to lock Seattle.
2. Saints of New Orleans (8-1)
The saints have been wiping it out for four weeks and, of all the stupid things I've done recently, it's probably the most stupid. They find themselves in the most complete and dangerous team of the NFL and broke the Bengals in Cincinnati on Sunday. With the defeat of the Panthers and Falcons, Sean Payton's club is in great shape to clinch a division title and the NFC seed.
3. Chicago Bears (6-3)
Mitchell Trubisky continues to rack up huge numbers, although we wonder if he should do the same and the Bears continue to win a division title after taking charge of the home Lions business on Sunday.
4. Washington Redskins (6-3)
The Redskins went to Tampa, gave up nearly 500 yards, held the Bucs at three points and managed to win. Washington has not had a single head change in any of his matches this season. It's wild. That says a lot about the Redskins team type, but their timing is easy, so it can continue.
5. Carolina Panthers (6-3)
The Panthers were blitzed at Pittsburgh on Sunday, but that does not sound the death knell for their hopes of playing in the playoffs, but a setback.
6. Minnesota Vikings (5-3-1)
The Vikings are on a bye this week.
NFC: Who went out
7. Green Bay Packers (4-4-1): The Packers dealt with the Dolphins, although they let them drag longer than necessary, before attacking Brock Osweiler and choking a lower team. It was a game on the verge of victory for Green Bay.
8. Philadelphia Eagles (4-4): The Eagles play against the Cowboys at Philly on Sunday night.
9. Atlanta Falcons (4-5): The Falcons laid an egg in Cleveland on Sunday, losing a winning match and putting their playoff hopes seriously. They did not convert very effectively into the red zone and continued to fight to defend themselves.
10. Seattle Seahawks (4-5): The Seahawks fought hard against the Rams, but were disappointed. They look like a playoff team, but they have trouble starting the season and have to start quickly to accumulate some wins in a charged NFC.
11. Dallas Cowboys (3-5): The Cowboys play against the Eagles at Philly on Sunday night.
12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-6): The Buccaneers had an impossible loss to understand for the Redskins at home Sunday afternoon, and there is reason to believe that it could cost Dirk Koetter his job.
13. Detroit Lions (3-6): The Lions are hard to understand / do not look very good in defense and have almost managed to go up against the Bears and cover the gap of +7.5 but not really.
14. Arizona Cardinals (2-7): The Cardinals showed the biggest life of their bad season Sunday afternoon and actually involved David Johnson in attack. It did not matter against the explosive leaders.
15. San Francisco 49ers (2-7): The 49ers play the Giants Monday night in San Francisco.
16. New York Giants (1-7): The Giants will face the 49ers Monday night in San Francisco.
NFC: Who is eliminated
Nobody … again.
Legend:
(x) – place for the playoffs
(y) – division won
(z) – first round won in the first round
(*) – advantage won in the field
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