The New Orleans Saints were unable to to secure the NFC’s #1 seed in the final week of the NFL’s regular season last week. The Saints needed three things to happen: they needed to beat the Carolina Panthers, have the Seattle Seahawks take care of the San Francisco 49ers, and hope for the Chicago Bears to upset the Green Bay Packers.
The Saints beat the Panthers, the Seahawks beat the 49ers, but the Bears were unable to the Packers in Week 17. In a small piece of irony, the Bears’ loss to the Packers not only meant the Saints wouldn’t end up with a first round bye, but also meant Chicago would be traveling to those very same Saints for the first round of the playoffs.