The New Orleans Saints could soon be NFC South champions.
A win this week against the Atlanta Falcons (9-5) combined with a loss by the Carolina Panthers (10-4) would make that a reality.
But there are a number of other scenarios that could play out this week that would impact the Saints' (10-4) postseason standing.
The worst would be a Saints loss combined with a Panthers home win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That would drop the Saints to the No. 6 playoff seed with one week to go.
The Saints would then have the winner between the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks -- they play Sunday in Dallas -- one game behind New Orleans for the final playoff spot, which the Cowboys-Seahawks winner would secure if it ended the season tied with the Saints for a wild-card spot at 10-6.