The New Orleans Saints will get their first opportunity in prime time when they travel to Kansas City to face the two-time defending champion Chiefs on Monday night.
The Saints are coming off of a difficult loss to swallow, as they fell 26-24 to their rivals, the Atlanta Falcons. The Saints’ defense did not allow the Falcons’ offense to score an offensive touchdown, but a special teams and defensive score did them in as they fell to 2-2 on the season.
Kickoff inside Arrowhead Stadium is set for 7:15 PM on Monday, October 7th.
THE INJURY NOVEL
Unfortunately for the Saints, their injury report resembles more of a long novel than a short story. Perhaps the biggest issue is the interior of the offensive line. Erik McCoy is on injured reserve, and Cesar Ruiz may miss another game.
Taysom Hill has fractured ribs, and Alvin Kamara has been playing through injury. The list goes on and on for this team, as they had an incredible 15 players listed on their initial injury report of the week.
There is no doubt that the Saints will be relying on some players to step up that were buried in the depth chart at the beginning of the season.
NOT THE SAME CHIEFS?
Last season, the Chiefs won games in a different way. Their offense struggled often, but the defense stepped up throughout the season.
Even though they did not feel like the same Chiefs, once the playoffs came around, they were right back to winning the big games as usual. That led them all the way to a second straight Super Bowl title.
This year it is more of the same, as the Chiefs are 4-0 despite having scored less points in each consecutive game since their season opener. The Saints will look to take advantage of a Kansas City offense that has injury issues of their own and is not quite in peak form currently.
ROAD DOGS
New Orleans enters this game as road underdogs, with Kansas City favored by 5.5 points. That is the second time this season that the Saints have been the underdogs in a road contest.
In the first such instance, the Saints were 6.5-point underdogs to the Dallas Cowboys. New Orleans won that game outright by a final of 44-19.
This time, the Saints will attempt to use that “Road Dog” mentality once again to pull off an upset against the Chiefs.
SERIES RECORD: Chiefs Lead 7-5
Last 5 Meetings:
2020: CHIEFS 32 – SAINTS 29
2016: CHIEFS 27 – SAINTS 21
2012: CHIEFS 27 – SAINTS 24 OT
2008: SAINTS 30 – CHIEFS 20
2004: SAINTS 27 – CHIEFS 20
STAT LEADERS
SAINTS
Derek Carr: 72-of-100, 824 yards, 6 TD, 3 INT
Alvin Kamara: 80 carries, 362 yards, 5 TD
Chris Olave: 20 catches, 265 yards, 1 TD
Alontae Taylor: 3.5 Sacks
Paulson Adebo: 32 tackles (28 solo)
Paulson Adebo & Tyrann Mathieu: 2 INT
Blake Grupe: 8-of-8 Field Goals, Long of 57, 13-of-14 PAT
CHIEFS
Patrick Mahomes: 83-of-121, 904 yards, 6 TD, 5 INT
Isiah Pacheco: 34 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD
Rashee Rice: 24 catches, 288 yards, 2 TD
Chris Jones: 3 Sacks
Nick Bolton: 27 Tackles (19 solo)
Chamarri Conner: 1 INT
Harrison Butker: 8-of-9 Field Goals, Long of 53, 8-of-9 PAT
NOTABLE INJURIES:
Saints
Taysom Hill, TE, Rib, Out
Cesar Ruiz, OG, Knee, Out
Willie Gay Jr, LB, Hand, Out
Shane Lemieux, C, Ankle, Out
Payton Turner, DE, Knee, Out
Lucas Patrick, G, Groin, Questionable
Pete Werner, LB, Hamstring, Questionable
Chiefs
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Illness, Doubtful
Mecole Hardman, WR, Knee, Questionable