Sunday's Saints-Falcons clash crowns an NFC South champion, but the real story is who it sends to the playoffs.
The New Orleans Saints (6-10) have a pivotal matchup against the Atlanta Falcons (7-9) on Sunday. The game will determine who wins the NFC South, only neither of the teams participating will be going to the NFC playoffs as divisional champions.
If you thought that was strange, that's only the beginning of where this division gets interesting. The NFC South will have an 8-9 division winner, only it won't be the Falcons. Sunday's game between the Saints and Falcons will determine if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Carolina Panthers are division champions.
If New Orleans wins, Tampa Bay heads to the playoffs as the division winner. If Atlanta wins, the Carolina Panthers will head to the postseason in the three-way tie of 8-9 teams.
The Saints may not be that motivated to send the Bucs to the playoffs, but there are a handful of things on the line for New Orleans in what is a bittersweet end of season scenario.
New Orleans has a shot at ending the year on a five-game winning streak, even without star wide receiver available on Sunday. Undoubtedly, winning on Sunday gives the Saints an intangible sense of momentum, but it could come at a cost.
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. (81) pulls in a touchdown past Tennessee Titans cornerback Kemon Hall (40) during the fourth quarter at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025.Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesWinning on Sunday could not only affect the Saints' draft standing negatively, moving them away from the top of the draft. New Orleans fans certainly understand that fully after weeks of seeing their team fall down the draft board with every win. Even so, a victory over the Falcons could make for a more difficult schedule in 2026.
NFL teams' schedules are determined in part by where they finish in their divisional standings. For the Saints, that means the difference between facing the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals with a loss, or facing the Washington Commanders, Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers or Los Angeles Rams, depending on whether or not the Rams lose on Sunday.
Certainly, the health of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes makes the potential matchup against the Chiefs an uncertain variable. Nevertheless, facing the Raiders or Cardinals is more favorable than facing the Chiefs, Niners or Rams. A win means the Saints face two of the latter three teams.
New Orleans is not necessarily focused on making its 2026 path easier, but there's still something at stake in Sunday's game. We'll keep an eye on the matchup and its ramifications on Sunday.