The San Francisco 49ers are about to host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, and interested New Orleans Saints fans should check the NFC playoff picture to know who to pull for: the home team. Like it or not, Saints fans should pull for a 49ers victory. Here’s why.
Now that the Saints have improved to a 9-2 record, they’re right in the thick of the race for a top-two playoff seed with both the 49ers (9-1) and Packers (8-2). If San Francisco defends their home turf, they’ll be set up to play the Saints for the No. 1 seed and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs during their Week 14 game inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. That’s as close to controlling their own destiny as the Saints can hope for at this point.
However, if the Packers win, the Saints will have to hope another team can knock Green Bay out of that top spot. The Saints and Packers will not play each other during the regular season, so New Orleans would effectively be putting its playoff hopes in another team’s hands.
And the Packers’ schedule is very favorable — of their six remaining games, only two come against teams currently projected to reach the playoffs: Sunday night’s game with the 49ers, and a Week 16 road kickoff against the NFC North-rival Minnesota Vikings. If the Packers win tonight and take a lead over the Saints for the NFC’s top seed, they could very well hold onto it and create a scenario where the Saints have to travel to Lambeau Field in January for rights to advance to Super Bowl LIV.
Obviously that’s not an ideal scenario. So for one night, pull for the 49ers, the Saints’ old NFC West rivals. It’s for the greater good.
For the curious, here’s what the NFC playoff standings look like going into Sunday Night Football:
- 9-1 San Francisco 49ers*
- 9-2 New Orleans Saints
- 8-2 Green Bay Packers*
- 6-5 Dallas Cowboys
- 9-2 Seattle Seahawks
- 8-3 Minnesota Vikings
