The next two weeks very well could define the season for the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.
The Saints have a two-game cushion for one of the two NFC wild card berths, but they begin a tough road stretch Sunday at Baltimore knowing they could easily play their way into the conference's top seed - or out of a playoff spot altogether.
New Orleans (10-3) has won six straight but still sits a game behind Atlanta in the NFC South standings and the race for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Saints need a win against the Ravens to ensure they'll have a shot at catching the Falcons with a victory next week in Atlanta.
The only thing working against New Orleans might be the fact it faces these two crucial games away from home, but the Saints are 5-1 on the road this season and have won 13 of their last 15 road games.
The game also carries importance for the Ravens (9-4), who desperately need a victory to keep pace with the 10-3 Steelers in the AFC North. After taking on potential playoff teams this week - the Steelers face the Jets at home on Sunday - both Baltimore and Pittsburgh close the season with consecutive games against losing teams.
Baltimore has won three of four to remain in solid playoff standing - the Ravens have a two-game cushion in the wild card race - but it dodged a bullet in last week's 34-28 overtime win at Houston, in which the Texans came back from a 28-7 deficit in the third quarter.
It was one of the worst efforts of the season for a proud defensive unit - one that had allowed 13 points or fewer in three consecutive games leading up to last week - but cornerback Josh Wilson salvaged it with a 12-yard interception return for a touchdown to end the game.
The 393 passing yards Houston's Matt Schaub racked up are particularly concerning with Drew Brees and the Saints coming the town.
After a 4-3 start, the Saints have rediscovered the explosive offense that carried them to their first Super Bowl title a year ago. They've scored 30 or more points in each of their past five games, including a 31-13 victory against St. Louis last week.
Brees has had something of an inconsistent season - he has matched his career worst with 18 interceptions, including 16 in the past nine games - but he also needs just 145 yards to reach 4,000 for the fifth consecutive season.
He has had some help from the running game in recent weeks, a situation that continues to improve as the Saints' backfield gets healthy. Reggie Bush continues to ease himself back into a key role after missing eight games with a broken fibula, and Pierre Thomas returned last week after missing nine games with a severely sprained ankle.
The absence of Bush and Thomas cleared the way for the emergence of rookie Chris Ivory, who leads the team with 683 rushing yards.
The Ravens would like to see the running game give quarterback Joe Flacco a bit more support. Leading rusher Ray Rice (898 yards) has been held under 70 yards rushing in four of the past five games and has just three rushing touchdowns all season.
Flacco has enjoyed the best season of his young career with 3,223 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, but the Ravens have had a tough time keeping him upright lately. Baltimore has allowed 22 sacks in the past five games, including a season-high five against Houston.
The Ravens could be without tight end Todd Heap (hamstring) for the second straight game. Heap has 37 catches for 546 yards and five touchdowns this season. Rookie Ed Dickson started in his place last week and had one catch for seven yards.