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St. Louis – A nearly perfect storm of poor performance and hyped opponent cocooned the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, when they failed to get out of their own way and couldn’t effectively block St. Louis’ path, either.

The result was a 27-16 loss to the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome that Coach Sean Payton termed “disappointing” repeatedly, in all phases and on all levels. And it was a loss that set the stage for a showdown against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C., next Sunday, with the winner taking control of the NFC South Division and of its fate as the No. 2 seed in the NFC for the playoffs.

For the Saints (10-4), the equation is simple.

If they beat Carolina on the road, they’ll win the division title and the No. 2 seed. Even if they lose the regular-season finale to Tampa Bay and Carolina wins its season-ender in Atlanta to pull into an identical overall record, the Saints take the crown because they’ll own the tiebreak (a head-to-head sweep) over the Panthers.

If the Saints lose to the Panthers, then they’ll need help. Specifically, they’ll need to beat Tampa Bay in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and for Carolina to lose its finale in Atlanta in order to win the NFC South crown and the No. 2 seed.

They’d claim the title and No. 2 seed because they’d still own the tiebreak over Carolina, via a better division record. But none of that was close to being a primary consideration Sunday.

New Orleans lost its second consecutive road game by double digits – it fell 34-7 in Seattle on Dec. 2 – and fell for the second time in three games as the Rams (6-8) took control early and turned New Orleans’ errors into an insurmountable lead.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw interceptions on the team’s first two offensive possessions. The defense committed three personal foul penalties on consecutive St. Louis touchdown drives. A field goal was blocked. A St. Louis onside kick was recovered by the Rams.

And that was just in the first half, after which the Rams led 24-3.

The Saints appeared discombobulated from the start, a condition for which Payton accepted blame.

“That was pretty ugly,” he said. “Obviously, it was a disappointing loss, extremely disappointing.

Read more: John DeShazier: 'Disappointing' 27-16 loss to Rams sets up huge showdown with Panthers

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Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

All little common sense goes a long way.