The Saints are in great, great position to win the NFC South

With two wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season, the New Orleans Saints are well on their way to winning the NFC South.

The New Orleans Saints are in a perfect position to roll to their third straight NFC South division title.

On Sunday Night Football, the Saints made a statement with a huge win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It wasn’t just a big victory on the scoreboard. It set them up for the rest of the season.

They are in the driver’s seat with a smooth road ahead of them.

The Saints have an easier schedule and a clear advantage in the NFC South

It can’t be understated how important Sunday’s game was for both teams.

Tampa Bay came in with a one-game lead over New Orleans. A win would have avenged their opening week loss and taken the pressure off as they headed towards the second half of the season.

The Saints trailed the Bucs and needed to keep the gap to a minimum.

Only one team played like the division was on the line though. New Orleans jumped out to a 31-0 lead by half time as Drew Brees ripped off three touchdowns and Tom Brady threw two interceptions.

The broadcast made a point of noting the probability of each team winning the NFC South going into the game versus after a Saints win. Tampa Bay had a 61 percent chance before kickoff. After a period of New Orleans’ dominance, they flipped the script with a 63 percent advantage in the divisional race.

Now the Saints are 6-2 while the Bucs have fallen to 6-3.

There may not be much between the two records now, but there could be after a few weeks.

New Orleans has a significantly easier schedule than Tampa Bay going forward.

Next week, the Saints will host the San Francisco 49ers, a team decimated by injuries and coming off back-to-back double-digit losses.

The following three weeks include two matchups against the hapless Falcons sandwiching a trip to Denver.

There are no guarantees in football, but Sean Payton and company should expect to come away with four wins in that span.

The Buccaneers will have to hope New Orleans trips up somewhere along the way because their likelihood of following up this devastating loss with a bunch of wins is not great.

They have a road battle with the Panthers in the division followed by games against the Rams, Chiefs and Vikings.

Even if they take care of business against Carolina and Minnesota, Los Angeles and Kansas City will not be easy to overcome.

More pressing is the concern that the Buccaneers are moving in the wrong direction. They narrowly survived a challenge from the Giants last week only to get spanked by the Saints this week.

That’s not to say the Saints are without their worries. They have managed their last four wins by no more than six points against opposition like the Lions, Chargers, Panthers and Bears. A dominating victory over a division rival should do a ton for their confidence, but getting complacent against a favorable schedule would end in disaster.