Welcome everyone to the latest game preview for the New Orleans Saints! This week, we break down their matchup against the New York Jets.
Last Week: The Saints came up short last Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons after a late interception by former LSU Tiger Deion Jones to give the Falcons a 20-17 win. The New York Jets were shut out on Sunday 23-0 against the Denver Broncos.
Last Meeting: The last time these two faced off, the Saints fell to the New York Jets 26-20 on November 3rd, 2013. The overall series is tied at six wins apiece with the Saints winning two of the last three matchups.
Storylines to Watch:
Getting Healthy: The injuries for the Saints last Thursday was the biggest storyline coming out of last week’s loss. Losing Alvin Kamara after that opening drive with a concussion was one of the biggest reasons why the Saints offense was so underwhelming for much of the ballgame.
According to Kamara, he should be ready to go for Sunday afternoon and if he’s 95-100 percent, there’s a solid chance that the Saints offense can find that spark again.
Bucking the Trend: While this doesn’t have to do with the actual play on the field, it’s an interesting statistic: in the 13 games the Saints have played, nine of them have been on Fox. The other four games on the Saints schedule were on other networks. The Saints haven’t won a game that’s aired on the other networks that carry NFL football this season.
If the Saints want to continue to fight for a bye week in a wild NFC, they’ll need to buck the trend when it comes to losing on networks other than Fox.
Air It Out: Looking back at Kamara, if he’s not able to play on Sunday you have to think that the Saints offense needs to change the way it runs. With how the Jets secondary looks, it might be advantageous for Brees to start airing it out like the old days.
While having a balance of run and pass has worked to much success for the Saints this season, if you’re without an integral part of that gameplan, you have to make adjustments and having one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the league is a heck of a backup plan.
New Orleans Will Win If:
The Saints can get the win if Kamara is able to be a full go on Sunday. While having Drew Brees airing is a great plan B, if Kamara isn’t in that starting lineup the Jets will know what to key in on defensively.
New York Will Win If:
The Jets can get a big win on the road if they can get after Brees. The Saints star quarterback has been pressured for much of this season and if they can cause some havoc in the pocket, then the secondary can be there to capitalize on any mistakes that he makes.
-Clint Domingue