Last night's Green Bay win over Minnesota wasn't what the New Orleans Saints or their fans were hoping for.

But that doesn't mean the Saints will be playing on Wild Card weekend.

New Orleans (12-3) still has a chance to secure a first round bye, and has a shot (albeit small) to get the #1 seed entering the playoffs.  Seattle's loss to Arizona Sunday did not affect the playoff scenarios as far as the Saints are concerned.

First things first.  The Saints must beat Carolina on Sunday for an outside chance at the #1 seed.  If they don't, they will be the #3 seed, unless Green Bay beats Detroit and Seattle beats San Francisco.

Here are the rest of the scenarios:

Should Green Bay win, the Packers secure the #1 seed throughout the playoffs.  The Packers will be big favorites over the 3-10-1 Detroit Lions.  And, under that scenario, the Saints can only finish as high as #2.  For that to happen, the Seahawks must beat San Francisco Sunday.  The Seahawks defeated the 49'ers earlier in the season, but the Seahawks are without running back Chris Carson (which led to them signing Marshawn Lynch).

To recap, assuming a Saints' win:

The Saints are the #3 seed if Green Bay and San Francisco win.

The Saints move up to #2 if Seattle defeats San Francisco.

And, the Saints are #1 if both San Francisco and Green Bay lose.

 

If the Saints lose:

The Saints will be #3 seed, unless Seattle and Green Bay both win, which would give the Saints a tiebreaker of Seattle with the same record, propelling them to the #2 seed.

 

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