The New Orleans Saints need to clean up several things if they’re going to pick up a win in Week 17 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
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The New Orleans Saints are entering Week 17 at 5-10. The team isn’t going to the playoffs, and it’d technically be more beneficial for New Orleans to lose, because of draft positioning. However, this isn’t a team that’s going to just give up on the season.
With the 3-12 Las Vegas Raiders coming to town, New Orleans is hoping to avoid being embarrassed in back-to-back weeks. To stop that from happening, the Saints need to address a few key areas.
3. Saints must improve their tackling
Poor tackling has been an issue for New Orleans all season, and that issue re-emerged in Week 16 against the Green Bay Packers. The Saints simply couldn’t get ball carriers on the ground. It didn’t matter who was carrying the ball or who was attempting the tackle; elite defenders Tyrann Mathieu and Demario Davis both had embarrassing missed tackles throughout the game.
New Orleans can’t afford to have another outing like that on Sunday, or the team will lose to the Raiders in Week 17 as well.
2. Saints have to be able to run the football
A big issue for New Orleans over the past few weeks has been the team’s inability to run the football. Against Green Bay, Saints running backs had just 15 carries for 39 yards. New Orleans couldn’t run the ball early, and an early deficit forced the Saints to abandon the run.
Against the Raiders, New Orleans needs to actually have success on the ground, and the defense needs to keep the game close enough so the offense doesn’t feel like it needs to abandon the run game.
1. Saints defense needs to be better against the pass
In addition to poor tackling, New Orleans’ defense couldn’t cover anyone in Week 16. The Packers had seven different players with a reception, and they were seemingly running open. Green Bay finished with 216 passing yards, and the only reason it wasn’t more is because the team had so much success on the ground.
With Raiders tight end Brock Bowers putting together the greatest rookie season ever by a tight end, Vegas will definitely try to throw the ball around on Sunday. The Saints secondary needs to be ready to make plays.
