Game result: The Commanders barely held off the Saints in New Orleans. Washington led 17-0 at one point but then nearly blew the lead. The Saints scored a touchdown as time expired in the fourth quarter, and rather than kicking a game-tying extra point, they went for the two-point conversion and the win. They came up short and the Commanders won.
NFL playoff picture: What Commanders win over Saints means for NFC standings
The Commanders face the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture.
Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Washington improved to 9-5 while New Orleans dropped to 5-9. The Commanders win means the Eagles cannot clinch the NFC East this week. The Saints loss eliminated them from wild card contention, but they remain alive in the NFC South race.
The Washington Commanders and New Orleans Saints face off in the Big Easy in a Week 15 matchup with fairly significant playoff implications, although moreso for the Saints than the Commanders. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday and Washington is a 7.5-point favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Commanders playoff picture
The Commanders are 8-5 and sit in second place in the NFC East and seventh place overall in the NFC standings. They are three games back of the Eagles, and would be eliminated from division contention with a loss and an Eagles win or tie against the Steelers.
Washington is a game back of the sixth place Packers and three back of the fifth place Vikings in the wild card standings. They are one game up on the eighth place Rams.
Saints playoff picture
The Saints are 5-8 and remain alive in the playoff race thanks to the state of the NFC South. New Orleans is two back of division-leading Tampa Bay and one back of Atlanta. They remain alive in the wild card race, but a loss to the Commanders would eliminate them from wild card contention.
If the Saints lose to the Commanders, the worst case scenario drops them three back of the Bucs with three games remaining. Because they still have a game remaining with the Bucs, they would be mathematically alive for the division title, but their playoff hopes would require a near miracle.
Tiebreaker implications
This would impact the conference record tiebreaker for both teams. There are numerous additional tiebreakers it would implicate further down, but conference record is the most significant one.
See More:
