Super Saints seal NFC South title in fine style
NEW ORLEANS are 11-2 third favourites for the Super Bowl after clinching the NFC South title with an impressive 45-16 victory over Atlanta on Monday.
The Saints’ celebrations were doubled as quarterback Drew Brees broke Dan Marino’s 1984 record of 5,084 passing yards in a season.
The 2010 Super Bowl champions are still behind San Francisco in the race for the second seed in the NFC due to their inferior conference record and if both teams win on Sunday New Orleans could be set for a rematch of Monday’s game against the Falcons in the wild-card round at the Superdome.
The Saints entertain Carolina, hoping to go 8-0 at home for the first time while the 49ers have to beat struggling St Louis on the road to claim a first-round bye in the play-offs.
The 49ers are the odd team out in the sizzling NFC battle. Super Bowl favourites Green Bay, New Orleans, Detroit and
Atlanta, plus the winners of the Dallas-NY Giants decider for the final spot are all offence-focused sides while the 49ers have got where they are thanks largely to their tremendous defence.
Dallas expect quarterback Tony Romo (hand) to be fit for their
winner-takes-all NFC East decider against the Giants but the Cowboys are 7-5 underdogs.
Denver and Cincinnati control their own destiny as they bid for the final two AFC play-off spots with Oakland, Tennessee and the New York Jets needing results to fall their way.
The Broncos are favourites to get the job done against Kansas City, but the Bengals are underdogs against a Baltimore side still fighting for the best play-off seeding.
