Saints have 'no excuses' after loss to Rams crushes playoff chances: 'We just have to win out'

Thursday night's 30-22 loss in L.A. didn't eliminate the New Orleans Saints from playoff contention, but it made life exceedingly difficult.

The loss dropped the Saints to 7-8 with two games remaining and took control of the NFC South out of their hands. Next Gen Stats has the Saints' playoff probability at 22% following the defeat. Even if they beat Tampa Bay next week, New Orleans could lose out on the division race if the Bucs win their other two games -- including Sunday to Jacksonville, who could be without Trevor Lawrence -- to close the season.

Thursday's loss was the latest where the Saints didn't look like they belonged with the upper echelon. Dennis Allen's team fell to 1-6 against clubs with a .500 or better record -- the only win against an Indianapolis Colts team in Week 8 that had yet to go on a run.  

"We are who we are," defensive end Cameron Jordan said, via Katherine Terrell of ESPN. "There's two games left. There's no sugarcoating this s---. It's frustrating to be in this position. I'm not sure the probabilities of whatever it is now, we just have to win out. At the end of the day there's no excuses, we just have to win out."

Who the Saints are is an inconsistent club that can blow out the league's basement dwellers but fails to compete against the big boys. They're in the worst spot for fans: No man's land with little hope of getting out.

Derek Carr continues to struggle to find consistency in his first season in New Orleans. Coming off his best game as a Saint, he cratered again against L.A., missing a host of passes, particularly on key downs early, including two fourth-down failures, and he took a bad sack on the opening drive that knocked New Orleans out of potential scoring range.

Allen went for it on