SEAN DREAD! OF THE Payton wants to keep emotions in check

SORRY: Sean Payton

IT may be Christmas Eve but the NFL stops for nothing with virtually a full schedule today.

After last night’s games – Indianapolis v Baltimore and Minnesota v Green Bay – there are a further 12 matches tonight.

And two of the favourites for Super Bowl LII even play

Philadelphia, the current NFC No.1 seed, host Oakland while Pittsburgh, currently No.2 in the AFC, travel to Houston in the second of a Christmas Day double-header.

It is a bumper festive schedule as the regular season draws to a close.

The play-offs begin after next Sunday’s round of games – and the picture for the end-of-season bonanza should be a little clearer after today’s matches.

In the NFC, the LA Rams can clinch a play-off spot with a win over Tennessee, while Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta can all make the play-offs if they win their matches. Meanwhile, over in the AFC, Kansas City can grab a play-off place by beating Miami. But perhaps the most intriguing clash of the weekend is in the NFC South, where New Orleans host last year’s Super Bowl runners-up Atlanta in a winner-takesall battle.

And if it needed any more spice, Saints coach Sean Payton certainly provided that when the two teams met earlier this month.

Payton, 53, made a choking gesture to Devonta Freeman

(right) in a 20-17 loss to the Falcons and admits he went too far.

“Listen, the mistake I made that night was letting my emotions get the best of me,” Payton said.

“It’s the same thing that we talk about with our players all of the time. It wasn’t good and I felt like as that game went on, it even affected me in calling plays.

“I’ve got to be better that way. It was frustration from some of the officiating.

“But you learn even when you’ve been in this thing as long as I have. It’s something that you regret and you look back on and think, ‘What are you doing?’ So, I think that’s the thing that bugged me for the better part of the week.” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, meanwhile, insists he and his team-mates will not be looking any further than today’s game, even if a return trip to the Super Bowl is still well within their reach.

He said: “None of the other stuff happens unless we win. “That’s what keeps you present in that moment. “The only thing that matters for us is preparing this week and giving ourselves the best chance to play the way we are capable of. Worrying about anything other than that, to me, is a waste of time and a distraction.

“We talk about it every day – how important every day is, how important our meetings and our practices are and how they put us in a position to be successful.

“That allows you to get your mindest right.”