You have to be bad in order to be eliminated from contention in a division in which the leader is 6-8-1, and that's exactly what the New Orleans Saints were this year-especially at home. The Saints' 6-9 record includes a disastrous 3-5 mark at the Superdome, where their 30-14 setback against Atlanta on Sunday pushed their home losing streak to five. Drew Brees and company can start making offseason tee times.

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Drew Brees . The NFC South will unmercifully come down to the bitter end. We don't yet know who will win it heading into Week 17, but we know who won't win it. The Saints would have clinched the division on Sunday with a win over Atlanta combined with a Carolina loss to Cleveland. Instead, the opposite happened. New Orleans lost another home game as the Falcons rolled 30-14, while the Panthers edged the Browns 16-13. Those results means Atlanta will host Carolina next week in a de facto division championship game. The Saints, meanwhile, will be left licking their wounds after losing the turnover battle 4-0 and seeing their last two drives end with an interception and an insult-to-injury fumble that was recovered by Osi Umenyiora and returned 86 yards for a touchdown as time expired. The Falcons are -3.5 favorites against Carolina.

William Hayes . The Rams' defense not only got torched by Odell Beckham, Jr. but also ignited a melee due to repeated late hits on the star receiver. Three players were ejected in the second quarter, two Giants and Hayes-a backup defensive end for St. Louis. The good news for Hayes is that he did not have to stick around for the rest of the game, because it did not get any better for the home team. Beckham (eight catches, 148 yards, two touchdowns) continued to dominate and New York's offense never let up en route to a 37-27 victory. The G-Men are -3 home favorites over Philadelphia in Week 17.

Boise State . It should not have any impact on Boise State's upcoming bowl game, but the Broncos will be without star running back Jay Ajayi next year. The junior announced over the weekend that he will make himself eligible for the 2015 NFL Draft. Ajayi has rushed for 1,689 yards this season (fourth most in the nation), and his 25 rushing touchdowns leave him second in that category behind Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon. ESPN's Mel Kiper rates Ajayi as the 10th best running back in the 2015, which does not bode well for his draft prospects given how NFL teams currently value rookie running backs. The Broncos are +3.5 underdogs against Arizona in the Fiesta Bowl.

San Antonio Spurs . The Spurs were once 13-4. Now they are 4-7 in their last 11 and 0-4 in their last four, leaving them at 17-11 overall and all the way down in seventh place in a crowded Western Conference. San Antonio is close to being a lot better, but it is a disastrous 0-4 in overtime games. Two of those OT losses have come during this four-game skid; 117-116 in triple overtime at Memphis last Wednesday and 129-119 in triple overtime against Portland last Friday. The stars got a much-needed rest one day later, meaning Gregg Popovich was without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green in addition to an injured contingent featuring Tony Parker, Kawhi Leonard, and Patty Mills. The result was a 99-93 loss to Rajon Rondo and the host Mavericks. San Antonio is a +320 second choice to win the Western Conference.

UCLA . There is no shame in losing-or even getting blown out-by Kentucky. But there is plenty of shame to go around for everyone on the team in scoring a mere seven points in an entire half of basketball, no matter the opponent. That's what the Bruins did on Saturday, when they watched Kentucky go up 24-0 at one point and 41-7 at halftime. UCLA was a shockingly horrendous 3-of-37 shooting in the first 20 minutes and went into the locker room with fewer points than the Wildcats had blocks. John Calipari's juggernaut eventually coasted to an 83-44 win in Chicago's CBS Sports Classic. UK is even money to win the National Championship.

Tampa Bay Lightning . Tampa Bay was 18-6-3 as recently as Dec. 6. But the early-season honeymoon appears to over with the Lightning in the midst of a 2-5-1 stretch that has them at a still-impressive-but-far-more-modest mark of 20-11-4. They have lost four of their last five games after falling 3-2 in a shootout last Friday at New Jersey and 3-1 at the Islanders one day later. Now the Lightning have to face Pittsburgh twice in an 11-day span starting on Tuesday and the Penguins are no longer without Sidney Crosby. Having recovered from his particular case of the NHL's mumps outbreak, Crosby has a goal and 10 shots on goal in two outings upon his return--both victories for the Pens (22-6-4). Pittsburgh and Tampa are +300 co-favorites to win the Eastern Conference.

Manchester United . By Man United's recent standards, there is absolutely nothing wrong with third place on the English Premier League table. But every point is previous if the Red Devils want to have realistic title hopes, because they are trailing Chelsea and Manchester City by seven. They could have cut the deficit to five on Saturday but managed only a draw against 12th-place Aston Villa. Even though it was Man U that scored the equalizer in the 53rd minute, it was still a disappointing result for the visiting side. Aston Villa played with 10 men for the final 25 minutes following a red card, but United could not find the back of the net as the score remained 1-1. Chelsea is -175 to beat Stoke City on Monday.

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