4 NFL teams that will make the playoffs in 2024 after missing in 2023

4. New Orleans Saints

I've been super hot and cold on the Saints over the last couple of years, but this team score more points than any other NFC South team in 2023 and they allowed just two more points than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers all year.

It's easy to forget because they missed last year's playoffs, but the Saints won nine games and were a factor until the very end last season. I don't think we should all be viewing the Buccaneers as a lock for the playoffs again in 2024, and I don't think people should be pushing all of their chips in the center on the Atlanta Falcons, either.

How are things going to go in Atlanta with the awkward situation created by the drafting of Michael Penix Jr? How is Kirk Cousins going to acclimate to a new team, new city, new offense, and new receivers coming off of injury?

There are a lot of question marks there in Atlanta offensively, but that team also needed significant help defensively and they poured most of their assets into the offense.

Maybe if only by process of elimination, I would pick the Saints as a team to step up for the NFC South this coming year.