The New York Jets (5-9) just kept hanging around on Sunday afternoon against the New Orleans Saints (10-4), but were unable to get out in front and came up short in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The Saints offense came out of the gates firing with a big 56-yard screen pass to Mark Ingram. At first glance, it seemed like perhaps Ingram didn’t step out at the Jets 10-yard line but the Saints never challenged the ruling on the field and ended up having to settle for a 23-yarder from Wil Lutz to take an early lead.
New Orleans was able to make it 10-0 after a 13-play drive that was capped off by a one-yard run into the endzone. The Jets wound up making it a three-point ballgame again with a methodical 12-play drive that took seven minutes off the clock thanks to some solid running from Bilal Powell, including a two-yard run into the endzone.
The Saints quickly responded with a march down the field that ended with Alvin Kamara finding the endzone with 6:12 left in the first half to make it 17-7. After forcing a three-and-out, it seemed like the Saints were poised to put the game out of reach before the break. However, Leonard Williams came up with an interception deep in enemy territory to set up a chip-shot field goal from Chandler Catanzaro to make it 17-10 headed into the break.
The third quarter was largely uneventful due to the Saints offense being nearly comatose, but that was the perfect opportunity for the Jets to get the score within four points with another short field goal from Catanzaro that was set up by a deep ball from Bryce Petty to former Louisiana Ragin Cajun Elijah McGuire.
The Saints offense woke up about halfway through the fourth quarter with a quick march down the field that ended with a short pass to Michael Thomas for the touchdown. The Jets were able to get the lead back down to five points with 1:55 left in regulation with a screen pass to McGuire. However, the Jets were unable to recover the onside kick and the Ingram put the final nail in himself with a 50-yard touchdown run.
The Saints will stay in the Superdome on Christmas Eve when they host the Atlanta Falcons (8-5) with kickoff set for 12 pm.
-Clint Domingue