From savvy coaching to quarterback prowess, discover how each remaining playoff team offers crucial lessons for the Saints' championship pursuit.
The NFL playoffs are down to four teams as we approach conference championship weekend. The Saints have something to learn from each of the teams as they try to get back to the postseason in 2026.
The four remaining teams have taken different paths to get to the playoffs, though none of the teams reaching the title game would have been surprises entering the postseason. That said, one team's emergence would have surprised at the beginning of the season.
The New England Patriots are back in the AFC title game after going from worst to first in the AFC East with new head coach Mike Vrabel. In the process, the team has signaled attention to detail still matters, just like it did in the Patriots dynastic runs when Vrabel played linebacker.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye's performance has not hurt the team's chances. Maye emerged as an MVP candidate this season, but the Patriots' consistent play has been the key to the team's success.
Across from the Patriots are the Denver Broncos and former Saints head coach Sean Payton. Like New England, Denver proved this year as well as last year that a team can compete in the postseason with a young quarterback. The Saints will hope to do the same with Tyler Shough in his second season next year.
That it is possible to win with a young quarterback is not all the Saints can learn from Payton and the Broncos. They can also learn that schematic advantage, good plays that beat the other team's plays, still works in the NFL. The Saints and offensive minded head coach Kellen Moore will hope to duplicate what Payton and company are doing in Denver.
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton calls a play during the fourth quarter of an AFC Divisional Round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills at Empower Field at Mile High. Ron Chenoy-Imagn ImagesYoung quarterbacks can win in the postseason when surrounding by great talent, but the Los Angeles Rams are proving another truth about the quarterback position: The better quarterback wins the close games. The Rams have that in starting quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Tyler Shough showed clutch ability for the Saints this season, but what we're seeing from the Rams quarterback in Stafford is on another level. And while odds of winning decrease for the average team the more one score games they find themselves in, the Rams' chances to win a one score game may stay as steady as any team in the league. The Saints will hope to have the quarterback that tips the scales as Shough develops.
Finally, the Seahawks have proven that complete teams can still be as effective as quarterback-dependent teams. Seattle proved it in perhaps the most impressive win of the postseason against a quality team in the San Francisco 49ers.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 124 passing yards in the game. His team won, 41-6.
There is more than enough the Saints can learn from the four remaining Super Bowl contenders. New Orleans will look to make it back to the postseason after a strong finish to the 2025 season.