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Regular season in five words or fewer: Too little, too late

The Saints have gone on a run in December, playing their best football on the day they got eliminated from the playoffs. The Saints know they had their chances in a weak division, but they were constantly their own worst enemy. The Saints blew leads, had untimely penalties and turnovers and never could quite get it together in time to make a run. A lot of mistakes doomed their season, but the blown lead against the Buccaneers is the one that hurts the most.

Welcome back, Marshon Lattimore. The veteran cornerback was in the lineup for the first time since October and made the play of the game on Sunday, a pick-six of Gardner Minshew in the fourth quarter that clinched a 20-10 upset win over the Eagles at the Linc. It capped an excellent overall performance by the Saints, who will fall short of their goal to reach the playoffs but are playing their best football of the season. This is good news for Dennis Allen, who was seemingly on the hot seat when New Orleans hit its bye week at 4-9. The Saints can end their season on a four-game winning streak by getting past the Panthers on Sunday.

They won two straight road games, including beating the Eagles on Sunday. But it means nothing since they've been eliminated.

Taysom Hill continues to have one of the more fascinating NFL careers in recent memory. Last Sunday, the QB/TE/FB/ST had a career-high 15 touches as New Orleans took down the Eagles in a last-gasp playoff bid that was later extinguished.

The focus was on the Eagles losing, but it was a pretty good win for the Saints on Sunday. If there was any question about Dennis Allen's future, he probably answered it.