
Good news, everyone: the New Orleans Saints have a better chance of making the playoffs after their bye week than they did going into the break despite their 4-9 record. The projections at FiveThirtyEight currently give the Saints a 0.9% shot at reaching the postseason — that’s an improvement over the 0.7% odds they had after losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a week ago.
It sure helps that the Buccaneers fell to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday afternoon, with third-string quarterback Brock Purdy outplaying Tom Brady in a 35-7 final score. Bradly threw a touchdown pass late in regulation to narrowly avoid a shutout loss, but Tampa Bay’s loss keeps the door open for New Orleans.