What does Commanders-Saints mean 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.

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.