In Week 16, the New Orleans Saints will play in just their second primetime game of the year when they hit the road to take on the Green Bay Packers for Monday Night Football. The Saints are a 5-9 team entering Week 16, so no one cares they’ve only had one primetime game. Additionally, that game didn’t go well for New Orleans, losing 33-10 to the Denver Broncos on Week 7’s Thursday Night Football.
Teams never want to be embarrassed in general, but especially not in a nationally televised game when everyone’s watching. That’s already happened once this season to the Saints, and if they want to prevent it from happening again, the team needs to clean up a few things.
3. Saints must make the right personnel decisions
In Week 15, New Orleans lost against the Washington Commanders 20-19 after trailing 17-0 in the third quarter. A big reason why the Saints had a chance to win on the final play, instead of being blown out, is that the team replaced Jake Haener with Spencer Rattler early in the third quarter. The rookie quarterback gave the team a spark and got them back in the game.
Entering Week 16, it’s safe to assume New Orleans will make the right decision at quarterback to start the game: starting Spencer Rattler. Beyond quarterback, though, the team must be prepared to get the right players on the field at every position.
2. Offensive line needs to carve our running lanes
An extremely disappointing development in the last two weeks is that New Orleans’ offensive line has been healthy, but the offense hasn’t been able to run the ball. Against Washington, the Saints finished the game with 16 rushes for 69 yards. However, most of those yards came from Kendre Miller late in the game. Early in the game, Alvin Kamara was only able to pick up 12 yards on five carries.
Against the Packers, moving the ball on the ground will be crucial. In addition to the run game being necessary with the weather, it’ll be a key to New Orleans pulling off an upset. So, the offensive line needs to get it together.
1. Saints need to be better against the pass
Against the Commanders, New Orleans’ best pass defense was the pass rush, recording eight sacks. However, the secondary struggled, allowing rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels to complete 25-of-31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Additionally, Daniels missed a wide open Terry McLaurin on a couple other deep shots.
It wasn’t the best day for the secondary, but the Saints got lucky. They can’t depend on luck in Week 16. Jordan Love and the Packers will be trying to exploit a vulnerable unit— New Orleans must be up for the challenge.