The New Orleans Saints Week 14 matchup against the New York Jets might be exactly what the team needs. The Saints have lost five straight games and have fallen to 5-7 on the season. Luckily for New Orleans, the NFC Wild Card picture is all over the map. If the Saints can turn this around and win a few games down the stretch, they can still make the post season.
The team is finally getting a bit healthier, and have a favorable schedule down the stretch.
For more insight on the Saints' Week 14 matchup against the Jets, listen below:
The turnaround starts Sunday against the hapless Jets. Here are my 4 bold predictions for the Saints Week 14 game against the New York Jets.
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Saints Week 14 Predictions vs New York Jets
4. Taysom Hill will have a massive day
Early in the season, Saints quarterback Jameis Winston tore his ACL and was ruled out for the rest of the season. The plan normally would have been to then start Taysom Hill at quarterback.
Taysom Hill had been dealing with a concussion he suffered in Week 5 vs the Washington Football Team. So the Saints turned to Trevor Siemian to lead the team. Siemian struggled with accuracy, completing only 57% of his passes while accruing a QBR of 32.
New Orleans finally got Hill healthy enough to take over at quarterback in last week's game against the Cowboys. Despite throwing four interceptions, Hill has always shown he is hard to stop on the ground.
Taysom Hill RAN THRU Xavier Woods 🚌 Cowboys SOFT 🤫 #DALvsNO pic.twitter.com/Kb6NuenT6p
— The Big Potato 🅱️🥔 (@The_BigPotato) September 30, 2019
Hill is a quarterback trapped in a running back's body. Just ask Cowboys' Xavier Woods who was run over by Hill a couple seasons ago. He is still that same player.
Now Hill is not the guy who is going to drop back throw the ball 40 times and lead you to victory. If you are trailing and need to throw, the way they were vs the Cowboys, you might be in trouble. But against the Jets, that should not be the case.
The Jets are among the league's worst rush defenses, allowing over 133 rushing yards per game. I would expect New Orleans to run the ball all game long. Hill will rush for over 100 yards and two touchdowns Sunday.
3. Saints defense will dominate, hold the Jets under 250 yards
The New York Jets come into this matchup with a lot of issues. They are obviously not a very good football team. To make matters worse, starting tailback Michael Carter is still on injured reserve. Back up running back Tevin Coleman was ruled out Friday with a concussion he suffered last week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
That leaves only Austin Walter and Ty Johnson as healthy running backs for the Jets. They also might be without breakout wide receiver Elijah Moore. Moore is dealing with a quad injury and was going to test it out Friday to see if he can play. However, he once again missed practice.
Elijah Moore did not practice again and is listed as questionable. Worth noting: No player on the #Jets has played this season after missing all three practices during the week. pic.twitter.com/okFEf28zza
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) December 10, 2021
Corey Davis was placed on season-ending injured reserve earlier in the week with a pending core-muscle surgery expected.
So, the Jets offense, which already is one of the worst in the league, might be without their top two running backs and wide receivers.
The Saints defense must be licking their chops at this matchup. Despite the Saints offensive struggles, New Orleans' defense has been stout, particularly against the run. Zach Wilson is going to have a very difficult time moving the football Sunday and the Jets will not reach even 250 total yards of offense.
2. Alvin Kamara will join Taysom Hill over the century mark
All Pro Saints running back Alvin Kamara is poised to make his return this week after missing the last four games with a knee injury.
Back up running backs Mark Ingram and Ty Montgomery have both been ruled out after testing positive for COVID-19 Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
Speaking to the media Friday, Saints head coach Sean Payton said the expects Kamara to be able to handle his typical workload Sunday vs the Jets. Kamara also did not appear on Friday's injury report from the team.
Saints RB Alvin Kamara is off the injury report and good to go for Week 14 against the Jets.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 10, 2021
All of that bodes very well for his chances to blow up. Kamara has only rushed for 100 yards once this season in Week 4 against the New York Giants. Look for Kamara to rush for over 100 yards, probably reel in a bunch of passes and score at least once Sunday.
1. With the win, the Saints climb back into wild card contention
All signs point to the Saints winning this game and winning it handily. Assuming that happens, New Orleans will improve to 6-7. Entering this weekend, the Washington Football Team and San Francisco 49ers hold the final wild card spots. They are 6-6 and play the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals respectively. Both are very losable games.
When the Saints wake up Monday morning, they will be tied with five or more teams for the final two wild card spots.
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