The New York Jets (3-11) will visit the New Orleans Saints (4-10) at the Caesars Dome on Sunday. Let’s take a deeper look at what to expect from their Week 16 opponent.<\/p>\n
While the Saints may have been eliminated from NFL playoff contention in Week 13, that has not stopped them from making an impact on the NFC playoff picture.<\/p>\n
The Saints began the season 1-8, with their lone win coming in Week 15 against the Giants, who are tied with Tennessee with the worst record (2-12) in the NFL. Since then, New Orleans has won 3 of 5, including consecutive victories over the Buccaneers and the Panthers, the two teams atop the NFC South battling for division supremacy.<\/p>\n
New Orleans has not thrown in the towel on the season and the Jets should be ready for a fight when they go south to visit the Black & Gold and their rabid home crowd.<\/p>\n
A key reason for the Saints’ recent winning ways has been the play of rookie QB Tyler Shough, a second-round pick (No. 40) in last April’s NFL Draft. Shough took over as the Saints’ starter in Week 9, following 8 starts by second-year signal-caller Spencer Rattler.<\/p>\n
Over Shough’s 6 starts, New Orleans is 3-3, and the Louisville product has completed 69% of his throws for 6 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and 226 yards average per game.<\/p>\n
“When your best is needed, [Shough] shows up,” first-year HC Kellen Moore said after their Week 15 victory over the Panthers. “Obviously, he made some big-time plays. \u2026 His steadiness is really special. I think that is really important when you play quarterback in this league.”<\/p>\n
In the New Orleans win over Carolina last Sunday, Shough led the Saints on 2 scoring drives in the final 3 minutes to tie the game — a 12-yard TD pass to WR Chris Olave to tie the game, then a 62-yard drive that ended in a 47-yard game-winning FG by Charlie Smyth as time expired.<\/p>\n
“I think he has been executing at a really high level and understanding the situational aspect,” Moore said. “There were a lot of situational plays that came up toward the end of this game. To execute at that high of a level, I thought, credit to him and really the entire offense.”<\/p>\n