The Saints (3-2) travel to Seattle for a Monday Night Football game against the Seahawks (2-4). The game will be played at Lumen Field at 5:15 PM PST, 7:15 PM CT, 8:15 PM EST on ESPN.
If you don’t get the game or can’t watch it for some reason, links to live streams of the game will be sent to my Saints groups chat. Link is here to join: https://relevnt.app/vibe/44763
Uniforms
White jerseys with black pants
Weather
Low 50’s, with some rain and wind up to 15 MPH.
Injury report
RB Dwayne Washington (neck): out
DE Payton Turner (calf): out
WR Deonte Harris (hamstring): out
QB Taysom Hill (concussion): out
T Terron Armstead (elbow) in
C Erik McCoy (calf): in
K Wil Lutz (core): unknown, probably out
The next 6 players are all guys who could be elevated to the roster today (Sunday) but as I write this it’s unknown.
LB Kwon Alexander (elbow): In
TE Nick Vannett (knee): Out
WR Tre’Quan Smith (hamstring): In
CB Ken Crawley (hamstring): Out
DE Marcus Davenport (pec): In
LB Chase Hansen (groin): Out
Roster moves
The Saints activated Marcus Davenport, Kwon Alexander, and Tre’Quan Smith to the active roster.
DT Josiah Bronson and WR Kevin White were elevated to the roster from the practice squad.
OL Will Clapp and DT Albert Huggins were released to make room for the incoming players off IR.
Inactives
This will be updated as the information is released on Monday.
Players to watch
- Marshon Lattimore, he’ll be matching up with DK Metcalf, how does he do overall
- Marcus Davenport, can he have a strong debut back from his injury
- Erik McCoy, how does he perform overall after missing basically this whole season already
Things to keep an eye on
- Does Jameis look any different with Tre’Quan Smith at receiver, more throws over the middle, more contested throws
- Can the Saints get some pressure with the return of Marcus Davenport
- Can the defensive tackles create plays and not get washed down by the linemen
- What does the linebacker rotation look like with Kwon and Werner
- Does Sean Payton get any other running backs in at the rotation so Kamara gets some rest
- What does the kicking game look like
- With another two receivers out can somebody step up for Jameis
- The blitz pickups against Jamal Adams
- Can the Saints stop the run game that was so effective last week
- Do the guys coming off injury have a rusty performance to get back into the swing of things
Keys to the game
If you want to know how I came to these three conclusions, I did a pre game film breakdown right here if you want to dig deep into my thoughts.
- Stop the run, after a strong second half performance in the run game last week against the Steelers, we can assume running the ball with Alex Collins or D.J. Dallas has got to be in the Seahawks game plan. They totaled 144 rushing yards last week. They did a good job of washing the Steelers defensive tackles down and creating cut back lanes and holes for Collins to run though. Davis and Werner primarily will be the guys to fill those gaps and stop the run, the defensive tackles can’t get washed down and need to drive their feet and force the ball carrier away from the gap. The ends like Davenport, Turner, and Jordan need to stay home and make sure the cut back lane is nonexistent. Cam Jordan is good at this already but it’s especially important this week.
- Get Alvin Kamara the football, the Seahawks struggled with Steelers rookie Najee Harris as he went for 30 touches, 127 yards and a receiving touchdown. Kamara has been a workhorse in the run game for sure this year, but he needs to get involved in the passing game as well. Maybe a designed screen or a shuffle pass to Kamara to get him the football. The Saints need to get their best player the football and against this defense Kamara should be able to have success in both run and pass game all day long.
- Pressure Geno Smith, after watching the film, if the Saints can stop the run and make Geno Smith win the game then the Saints have a strong shot to win. We want Geno Smith to take control of the game because if he does they probably don’t win. Once he has to do that, the Saints should start blitzing and creating stunts to create pressure. With Davenport back this is very possible. These pressures will force mistakes then turnovers. Win the turnover game, you win the game, but it starts with the big guys up front.
Strengths
- Tied best in the league for not turning the ball over with only 4 giveaways
- They have a good wide receiver due in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett
- Run blocking is good, they’ll target the weak Saints interior defensive line after having a good performance last Sunday against the Steelers
Weaknesses
- Their secondary, they are inconsistent. They make some plays occasionally but overall struggle in coverage
- Pass protection, there was a play where they had 7 guys pass blocking on 4 rushers and Smith was sacked; defensive line has to create pressure
Who to root for
If the playoffs started right now, the Saints would be the 6th seed right below the Rams and right above the Vikings. The Saints would be playing on the road against the Packers if the playoffs were to end now. The record for last week’s teams during the bye that we were rooting for was 6-3, with an overall record of 27-29. If the Saints want to move up in the seeding here’s who to root for this week.
Washington @ Packers – Washington
Falcons @ Dolphins – Dolphins
Panthers @ Giants – Giants
Lions @ Rams – Lions
Eagles @ Raiders – Raiders
Texans @ Cardinals – Texans
Bears @ Bucs – Bears
Colts @ 49ers – Colts
Written By Kadin Janisch
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