know who to pull for: week thirteen (2 Viewers)

[bergeaux]

Go Tampa! Go Redskins! Man, the Texans are punks... They could have done us a big favor and given us some breathing room...

 

[RaDaRkInG]

 

[tenordas]

Just win, Saints
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Oh, and Go Bucs! Please!

Excellent analyses as always, dotless one!

 

[SaintCloud]

Great post. I love it when people put effort and objectivity into the post. Another good playoff stats site is: http://www.playoffstatus.com/nfl/nfcstandings.html

It has the Saints at 81%. That is statistics. In reality, the way Brees is playing, the Saints are a lock. Don't sweat it.

 

[SaintCloud]

The Falcons will not lose to Tampa. Atlanta almost blew the last game due 100% to ST blunders. They assigned several starters to the ST unit the following week. They have look great on ST since.

If you are looking for a Falcons loss, the game at Seattle is more realistic than looking for a Bucs miracle.

Don't despair. Forget stats for a moment and look at the Saints on the field. Brees is back and they are playing with swagger again. They are a lock in the NFC. The Falcons don't look like a team that is inclined to get full of themselves and collapse. That said, the Saints control their own destiny as of now. Win and in...that formula will get them a shot at all teams left standing. The Falcons are good at home, but no more invincible than anyone else. I think the Rams beat them there last season.

 

[neworleanshoo]

I suppose you mean a Falcon's division loss leaves us in control, or a Tampa win, same thing.

The ambivalence comes in if we lose to the Bengals. Should that happen, a Tampa win might have the effect of lessening our chances to get to the playoffs by bringing Tampa more into the picture.

I do agree we want home field advantage and want Tampa to win. I do not necessarily agree we are past the point of just wanting to make the playoffs. You can not win it all if you do not get an invite to the dance.

yes, i meant a falcons loss... just edited it.

while it seems like a saints loss to the bengals would muddle things, combined with a falcons loss to the bucs we'd still only be 1 game back - and we'd have the tiebreaker with a head-to-head to play. so even if we both lose tomorrow, the saints would still control our destiny in the division.

point being, if our goal is to make the big dance & not simply get into the playoffs (agree to disagree there), we should still pull HARD for the bucs at 3pm even if we lose the noon game. because the way the system is set up, the top 2 division winners get a GIGANTIC advantage over wildcards.