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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Any hopes the New Orleans Saints still had to make the seventh spot in the NFC playoffs got severely dashed after losing a lopsided contest to the red-hot Miami Dolphins (8-7) on Monday night inside the Caesars Superdome.

A Saints win would have given New Orleans a 64 percent chance to make the playoffs, but that number decreased to 35 percent with the 20-3 loss to Miami.

The Saints are dealing with a Covid-19 outbreak that has 22 players on the Reserve/COVID list, including quarterbacks Taysom Hill and Trevor Siemian.

It was an inauspicious debut for rookie signal-caller Ian Book, who became the fourth quarterback the Saints started this season. Things went awry from the Saints’ opening drive with Book throwing a pick-6 to Miami cornerback Nik Needham. From there he would go on to throw 12 of 20 for 135 yards with two interceptions.

Book was also sacked an inexcusable eight times.

The Saints (7-8) were coming off of a 9-0 upset win over the Buccaneers, meaning head coach Sean Payton’s offense has only managed 12 points in the last two games combined.

With the win, the Dolphins, who started 1-7, have rattled off seven straight victories on the season.

Follow along as it happened with the WGNO sports office in our live blog below:

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