The New Orleans Saints (-4.5) and Seattle Seahawks are playing in primetime Monday night. For at least the past decade, this was a license to print money for the NFL.
Not in 2021.
Rather than two division leaders, we’ll see two teams battling to remain on the fringe of playoff consideration. Russell Wilson (injured) and Drew Brees (retired) will not be taking the field. A national audience will have Jameis Winston and Geno Smith foisted upon them instead.
Winston briefly looked like the biggest bargain in the NFL, then crashed back to earth like a malfunctioning satellite. He roasted the Green Bay Packers with a five touchdown performance that gave Aaron Rodgers & Co. their only loss of the season so far. He also recorded a 26.7 passer rating the week after in a blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Last week’s four touchdown game gave Winston a league-best 10.3 percent touchdown rate. It was also a performance where he completed just 50 percent of his passes against a struggling Washington Football Team defense.
Smith has enjoyed a minor resurgence in his ninth season as a pro. Once an ignominious link in the Jets’ chain of quarterback failures, he’s emerged as a valued backup in Seattle. The 32-year-old hasn’t won either of the games he’s been inserted into in 2021, but he’s also not the reason why the Seahawks lost either. That’s a useful strength for a second-string signal caller.
That leaves us with a 3-2 Saints team capable of losing to the New York Giants and a 2-4 Seahawks club that lacks an identity beyond “giving up more yards than anyone else in the NFL.” Let’s talk about that. All odds via Tipico: