The New Orleans Saints can’t afford to mess this up. They may be riding the longest losing streak of the Sean Payton era and are without several key players due to injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak, but the New York Jets present a great opportunity for the Saints to get back on track. Especially if Alvin Kamara, the best player on their team, is healthy and ready to get back to work.
New York has only won 5 of their last 28 games, with 3 victories coming this season under first-year head coach Robert Saleh. His defense has missed star pass rusher Carl Lawson since his season-ending injury in training camp and struggled to make much progress in defending either the run or the pass. New Orleans should find some success in moving the ball, with a few days of extra rest from last week’s Thursday night game benefiting Taysom Hill and his injured finger.
On the other side of the ball, the Jets are trying to build some confidence in rookie quarterback Zach Wilson, who just had maybe his best game of the season. He completed 60.5% of his throws for 226 yards and two touchdown passes (scoring another touchdown run on the ground) against the Philadelphia Eagles, but a late-game interception and a productive day from the Philly offense still led to a 33-18 Jets loss.
Rookie draft pick Elijah Moore has been effective for New York — and better than any of the Saints receivers New Orleans preferred to him, frustratingly — but he’s questionable to play with a quadriceps injury. The Jets also lost Corey Davis to injured reserve this week, so they could be down both of the starting wideouts in an already-mediocre offense.
Still, the Saints can’t look at this as an easy win. New York got the jump on two good teams earlier this year, beating the 8-4 Tennessee Titans in overtime and upsetting the 7-5 Cincinnati Bengals. New Orleans could be knocked off just as easily. If Kamara and Hill can’t get the offense going and the defense continues to show vulnerabilities, their losing streak could stretch into six games. It’s going to take mistake-free football from Sean Payton’s squad to put this opponent away.
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