Is the #2 seed achievable?
 

What do you guys think about the Saints achieving the #2 seed?

If I'm correct, 49ers own the tiebreak based on Conference performance so we would need to beat the 49ers by two clear games out of these last 4. I don't think we have an easy schedule by any means but we have 4 winnable games. The 49ers have 3 divisional games (albeit in a terrible division) and they have to play the Steelers as well.

Anyway, I have gambled massively on this (no doubt you will come back to this if I completely fail) and have booked up all of my flights, hotels and provisional game tickets for a #3 seed wildcard game in The SuperDome followed by a trip to San Francisco. I live in England by the way and have license to go to Wisconsin if that is where we end up.

Excited? You betcha!!!!

Its very achievable, all we need to do is win out and hope SF drops 2 of their last four. Them losing twice is very possible, as they play the Cardinals and the Seahawks on the road and have the Steelers at home.

Niners lose to the Steelers and Seahawks. We win out.

I'd like to see the Rams upset them...

I can't see the Rams doing any damage to the 49ers. Seahawks and Steelers definitely could. Arizona on the road is a real 50/50 game. This would still need us to win out though. Titans away is not an easy game and why do I feel like the Vikings should be a cakewalk but has the potential to be one of those games we 'could' throw away.

Hate to say it but I think the Falcons will need the game so desperately that they will play us right to the brink. I think everything will become much clearer after this weekend. If the 49ers beat Arizona I think it's game, set and match for the #2 seed.

I thought the same thing when they played us; on any given Sunday...

Hey Mitch, I can do you one better. Like I said, I'm from England. Came over this year to see the Colts game in The Dome then me and my cousin went up to St. Louis to watch the game on the road. Before the season started when we got it all booked I assumed the Colts would be decent and Manning would be leading them and that the Rams would probably be 8-8 but best in the NFC West. That never really panned out so I ended up assuming we'd get 2 blowout wins. After seeing us destroy the Colts I expected more of the same in St. Louis ...

Suffice to say, the thought I was having about being a talisman for the Saints winning died that day! What a shocker. And what a rubbish atmosphere too. The Rams could barely fill 1/4 of their stadium.

So on the bright side, I went to the Vikes game (NFL Kickoff) last season. I'm 2-0 in the Dome :)

Although it would be nice to get the #2 seed, how about we lock at least a wild card first. Thats a start. Then let the chips fall. Nothing is a lock yet.

It could happen - but....

14%. That is the stat I got of getting the 2nd seed. I could see it happening though.

Buy a lottery ticket.

With the way that SF closely wins games its very possible. PiTT and cardinals ( who beat the phallus cowtoys ) have the best chance.

Jolly good deduction and prognostication. Still waiting for the true Alex Smith to show up. Then we'll have a chance at #2.

the 14% goes down to 6.3% if Ben R isnt playing

I don't think we will catch them. However, they are one and done in the playoffs.

You get pressure on Smith, and he folds like a card table... Take Gore out of the game, and they have nothing but defense... Now Willis is hurt, so who knows.... They could drop the rest of their games if teams use that gameplan... Would love to see it honestly.. I hate the niners

I vaguely remember something about being under the radar and chasing behind the Vikings for home field advantage all through the season and it wound up working out okay -- if it happens, great, but it may not.

Niners loose to Seahawks and Steelers, and we win out. As said before, on any given Sunday...

I would Love to play the niners again. I hate them. I mean hate them. I am an old timer so the niners are always going to make my stomach turn.

Just win and the cards will fall as they may.

Candle stick to Lambo in Jan.? hell of a road to the bowl

We Didnt See A Hurt Chicago Beating Minnesota Two Years Ago When We Needed That Game For Us To Get Playoff Dominance But It Happened...So Im A Believer

We need help

Man steelers and some please beat them and pleas Saints handle your business

AZ just upset SF!

Looking a lot more achievable now!

Indeed!

So we just need to get one more game up on them? Or did them losing to AZ even us out? Who wins the tiebreak now?

We have to have a better record than the niners. They win all tiebreakers if we have the same record. Rams lost really hurt us.

Yep, We have 3 conference losses, they have 2.

We have to finish a game up.

For the second time in my life I'm rooting for the Steelers. I'll do it, but I don't have to like it.

I really dont understand this kind of discussion.Even if we somehow manage #2,we still have to meet the Packers in the NFC Champ game in a frozen Lambo,wich doesnt really go in our favor.Nobody cares about no.2 or if you made the playoffs and got out the back door,only champs matter.

Unless someone knocks them off in the 2nd round, perhaps a cold weather team like the Giants or a division rival like the Lions or Bears.

Packers may have lost a weapon. Rumor is Jennings may have torn MCL

I think the above is jumping the gun. There are several crucial points to the #2 seed.

First is that the team gets a bye. That's a week where you don't have to prepare to play an all or nothing playoff game and have a chance to prepare for that NFCCG presumably in Lambeau.

Second is that your first playoff game is guaranteed to be at home, where the Saints have looked to be close to unbeatable. In addition it's against a team that did have to play a playoff game the previous week.

Finally there are no guarantees that the Packers will win their divisional game in Lambeau. A few years ago a Vick led Falcons team beat Green Bay (albeit a different squad) in Lambeau. In that case the Saints become the host of the NFCCG. See point #2 above.

The Saints really lost their chance at the #1 seed on the last play of the first game back in September, and the Rams put the nail in the coffin. The #1 seed is out of reach this year.

But a couple of week ago many thought the #2 seed was out of sight too. But as I predicted in another post, SF was going to have some tough road outs against their division rivals who will happily play spoiler to their #2 dreams, just as the Falcons and Panthers would be happy to play spoiler to ours. The difference is that our last two games are in Dome Sweet Dome while SF still has to deal with the Steelers and has to take on the SeaHawks in Seattle.

Playoff positioning is everything for the Saints now. A playoff schedule of one week off, one week at home, and possibly one winner take all game in Lambeau is their best shot to getting back to the Superbowl this year.

SFIAH

and can someone please tell me the last time the current Green Bay players won a game in January @ Lambeau?

One thing I got from the OP. Nowhere does anything say we have to finish TWO games ahead of anybody. One game up is enough.

They do hold the tiebreaker, for now, and of course, we're tied.

Absolutely, #2 is achievable for us, if we take care of business. Even if we stumble, the 49ers last 3 games are tougher than they seem.

Pittsburgh, obviously, is supposed to be the test.

But then they'll go to Seattle on short rest, and Seattle is, as we know, a tough place to play.

And they they're on the road again at the Rams. Who would love to spoil the 49ers day more than the Rams? (besides some of us long-time Saints fans, who remember the old NFC West)

This is very doable, if we take care of business.

Im going to lay down a prediction now, but I dont want to jinx US, so I wont predict what the Saints will do, except to say the Panthers will give us the biggest fight. I say this because its on New Years Day, and I question whether our crowd will be 100%, plus they just generally hate us, and would love to spoil our day. But im not predicting our win/loss record.

My prediction is for the 49ers. I think they're going to beat Pittsburgh, and lose to Seattle.

Lets take care of business.
Kick the Vikings Azzes!!!!

Good point ... they were on the road all of the last playoffs as they were a wildcard team. And I think their running game just took a hit.

We have to win out first.

Actually we don't. We do have to finish ahead of of SF because at least one of their losses is an AFC loss and all of our losses, and all our remaining games, are NFC games. The first tiebreaker is conference record, so if each team finishes with the same record, SF would have less conference losses.

If SF loses 2 of the last 3, the Saints would finish ahead even if they dropped one more. So if for example SF drops both the Steelers and Seahawks games and the Saints beat both the Viking and the Falcons, then the Saints secure the #2 seed regardless of the results of the last game, which could turn the Panthers game into another preseason viewing.

SFIAH