Sean Payton can accept if New Orleans misses the playoffs while a division winner with fewer victories makes it.

He’s also OK if the Saints have to go on the road in the postseason against a team with a less impressive record.

“I kind of like the way it is set up right now,” the Saints coach said of the NFL’s playoff format, which gives the first four seeds to division winners, regardless of record, and the last two seeds to wild cards.

Heading into Sunday’s regular-season finale, it’s possible for the Saints to finish as a wild card at 11-5, and go on the road to play the winner of either the NFC North or NFC East divisions — teams which may have as few as nine wins (Philadelphia is the only one with a chance to reach 10).

The Saints could also miss the playoffs with 10 wins if they lose (and if Arizona beats San Francisco).

The system has worked against Payton before. In 2010, the Saints were an 11-5 wild card team, hitting the road to play a 7-9 Seattle team that won a weak NFC West. The Saints lost.

Payton said the NFL could fix the problem somewhat by getting rid of byes and letting two more teams from each conference get in. But he doesn’t necessarily favor that.

“We are one of the only sports with the byes,” Payton said. “We just look at the schedule. What are the rules? What does it take to get in? And then let’s go compete and make sure we give ourselves a chance to do that. So for this weekend, we are not really ... looking at the scenarios, the records.

“We are looking at playing our best game.”

BIG-GAME INEXPERIENCE: Only 15 Eagles who played on the team when it won the NFC East title in 2010 remain, including injured wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. So one of the youngest rosters in the league also lacks playoff experience going into Sunday’s winner-take-all game at Dallas.

Coach Chip Kelly isn’t worried.

“I think everybody understands what’s at stake,” he said. “It’s the first game of the playoffs for us and for them. If you win on Sunday, you get to play again and if you don’t win on Sunday, you go home.”

The Eagles do have key players who went to the playoffs with other teams, including cornerback Cary Williams, safety Patrick Chung and linebackers DeMeco Ryans and Conor Barwin.

Williams started for the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens last year. Ryans went to the playoffs with Houston in 2011 and Barwin did so with the Texans in 2011 and 2012. Chung spent the previous four seasons with New England, which won the AFC East each year.

“The key is to be who you are, but understand the situation,” Barwin said. “You have to kind of elevate your preparation, pay attention to small details because you never know what detail or what point in the game is going to make the difference. You just want to be prepared for everything because it’s win or go home, and nobody is ready to go home.”

IT’S BEEN A WHILE: The answer to a Miami Dolphins trivia question stopped by the team’s complex this week.

Jay Fiedler, the last Dolphins quarterback to win a playoff game, was in town to promote his summer camp in New York and to check up on his former team.

The Dolphins are in the race for the AFC’s final wild-card berth going into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Jets. Miami hasn’t made the playoffs since 2008, and hasn’t won a postseason game since 2000, when Fiedler was the QB.

WHO’S CALLING?: Both of the Cincinnati Bengals’ coordinators already are getting a lot of mention for head coaching jobs.

The Bengals have won the AFC North with a balanced team. Coordinator Mike Zimmer’s defense is ranked No. 5 in the NFL despite missing lineman Geno Atkins and cornerbacks Leon Hall and Terence Newman. Coordinator Jay Gruden’s offense is ranked No. 10.