Saints fall short of playoff contention as regular season comes to a close.
The New Orleans Saints finished the regular season with a 9-8 overall record, their highest-scoring performance of the season coming a bit too late when they defeated the Atlanta Falcons 48-17.
In order to secure the NFC South title, the Saints needed to defeat the Buccaneers then win against the Carolina Panthers in Week 18. If the Seattle Seahawks lost to the Arizona Cardinals and the Green Bay Packers lost to the Chicago Bears, New Orleans would have secured a wild-card berth even with a Buccaneers victory.
A 17-9 win by the Packers over the Bears would eliminate any chance of the Saints earning a wild-card place, while the Buccaneers would defeat the Panthers 9-0 to secure the NFC South division.
The Saints finally pay a heavy price for blowing a 17-0 halftime lead over the Packers in Week Three. In addition to winning the division, the extra victory would have given New Orleans the advantage over the NFC’s last wild-card club.
QB Derek Carr had one of his best games of the 2023 season, tallying four touchdowns on 22 completions for 264 yards and no interceptions. The defense would shut out the Atlanta offense in the second half, tallying two interceptions, including a late one by Tyrann Mathieu which he would return to Atlanta’s one-yard line.
The Saints would go on to put backup QB Jameis Winston in the game late in the fourth quarter and line up in victory formation, but instead handed the ball off to RB Jamaal Williams who scored his first touchdown of the season, despite head coach Dennis Allen and offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael telling Winston to take a knee to end the game.
At the conclusion of the game, Falcons head coach Arthur Smith declined to shake Dennis Allen’s hand after the contentious score in the final minute. In due course, Smith would lose his position as head coach.
With the second-easiest schedule in the NFL and three consecutive postseason misses, questions about the Saints’ roster will undoubtedly persist heading into the following season.
The club won’t be able to build on the offense’s success because there isn’t a postseason game coming up, but it does give Saints supporters hope for the 2024 campaign.
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