re: Can we still make the playoffs?

It's still possible, but it's going to be a difficult task. Unless they go into a big slump, Carolina is well on their way to winning the NFC South. The Falcons are two games ahead of the Saints right now, leaving the Saints third in the division. It is very rare for three playoff teams to come from one division, so the Saints will most likely have to pass up the Falcons in the division to have a chance at the playoffs. Tie-breaker scenarios that could come back to bite the Saints are the losses to Philly and Arizona, if neither of those teams win their divisions, they could be prime wild card contenders.

The hard truth is that unless the Saints find a way to play consistent defense, they are not even going to come close to the playoffs. The offense has steadily improved, they're not perfect by any means, but the offense seems to have found the spark that it was missing early in the season. The Saints can't win a shoot-out game every week, those types of games are toss ups. They were fortunate to beat the Giants, but it's hard to have that same good fortune multiple weeks in a row.

They have a tough matchup against Washington next week. The Redskins aren't a great team, but something tells me that it will be a hard fought game between two desperate teams. If the Saints can win and be 5-5 heading into their bye week, I think it will renew their playoff chances a good bit, but they really can only afford to lose one more game.