It feels like the New Orleans Saints are introducing a fresh new way to lose football games, every week, but the sorry state of the NFC South means their season won’t end just yet. They’re still alive in one of the NFL’s worst divisions and they can get right back in the thick of things with a win next week against the also-bad Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New Orleans is ranked dead-last but they’re separated by just 1.5 games from the top-ranked Bucs.

Call it false hope if you want. At this point we’ll take it. Here’s the state of the NFC South after Week 12’s slate of games:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6)

Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Week 13: vs. New Orleans Saints (4-8)

Atlanta Falcons (5-7)

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Week 13: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (3-7)

Carolina Panthers (4-8)

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Week 13: Bye week

New Orleans Saints (4-8)

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Week 13: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6)

Story originally appeared on Saints Wire