The NFC South Race is Over
 

Rapid Reaction: Saints 35, Falcons 27

November 3, 2009 12:15 AM

Posted by ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas

NEW ORLEANS -- Ladies and gentlemen, the NFC South race is over.

Let’s go ahead and crown the New Orleans Saints division champions. Yeah, I know we’re only seven games into this thing. But it’s over.

The Saints played their first division game of the season Monday night. They won it and, therefore, they’re going to win the NFC South for the first time since 2006.

Barring some sort of major injuries or problems, the Saints already have put enough distance between themselves and the rest of the NFC South. The Falcons played them pretty darn hard, but New Orleans survived it.

That makes the Saints 7-0 and the Falcons 4-3. Look at both of their remaining schedules and you’ll see why I’m saying the race is over. Atlanta needed this game to have any chance of catching the Saints. Now, the Falcons are going to have to scramble just to get a wild-card berth.

The Saints will be playing for much more than an NFC South crown the rest of the way. They’re going to finish with double-digit wins (they only need one more win for that if you give them victories for their two games with Tampa Bay). The only real questions are if they can clinch the home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs and maybe even if they’ll go undefeated.

I’m heading downstairs for post-game interviews. I’ll be back with more in a bit.
Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Falcons-Saints 110209

Wow...that's pretty bold stuff coming from Yasinskas...

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

Yeah I think it's ambitious, but it's nice to hear people all over give us credit for once since we've been in business.

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

Pat's eating the cheese...

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

bs - the division is NOT over.

Glad we have a 3 game lead, but that only means you have it in the bag when there are 3 or less to go and you have tiebreakers. We're in a great position, but there is a lot of football left.


We have not beaten Carolina in 4000 years. We need to take care of business on Sunday and move to 2-0 in the South...

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

The Saints have to protect the ball and their QB better or things could go South in a hurry. There is more balance to the offense this year, but Payton has to run the ball even more. Teams are choosing to pressure more and to cover less against the Saints. Brees is taking ALOT more hits. He's not a big guy and will put the ball on the ground.

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

Nothing is set in stone. Any number of things could happen. One game at a time....We do look very very good, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. :nono:

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

I love a good dose of optimism, but it's good to keep the horse out in front of the cart.

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

Remember this is the NFL....... Not For Long......One Game at a time.

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

Piss poor tackling and turnovers will lead to plenty of losses. We need to clean up hopefully we get dessert and not disaster.

Re: The NFC South Race is Over
 

Are you speaking to the players or to us?