Gameday!! The Saints are playing the Jets in MetLife Stadium… which for those of you keeping score at home is actually in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Saints will complete their AFC schedule with this game having already played the Bills, Patriots and Dolphins (2-1 in those games). A win would help move to 7-1 as they are currently battling the Seahawks for the best record in the NFC. Here are the five things I'll be looking for:
1. Does weather affect the game?
The Jets want to run the football and play good defense. So horrible weather helps their cause a lot more than it helps the Saints. It doesn't look like it will rain and the temperature should be in the high 40's to low 50's. Definitely not warm, but decent football weather. Could be a lot worse. Still, the conditions tip slightly in the Jets' favor considering the type of football team they are vs. the type of football team the Saints are. The Jets hope for some sloppy wet football, so keep an eye out on that.
2. The Ryan Bowl!
Rob Ryan will coach the Saints' defense against his brother, Jets' head coach Rex Ryan. They are twins so you figure there will be a very intriguing chess match going on when the Jets have the football. Which one will have the upper hand? I think you can expect them both to pull out all the stops in an effort to one up each other.
3. Does Chris Ivory make any impact?
Chris Ivory has played it cool in the media suggesting this is "just another game". But I don't buy that. It is always a little personal. You know Ivory wants to tear up the Saints and prove them wrong. Ivory is only averaging 3.2 yards a carry this season and he's dealt with customary hamstring and ball security problems. I would say that overall he hasn't been that good for the Jets. It'll be interesting to see if he can make a statement in this one.
4. Will the Saints get the good Jets or the bad Jets?
The Jets have a very Jekyll and Hyde thing going on this season. They are 4-4, but 3-1 at home so they do seem to play better in front of their home crowd. They have had two very tough contests against the Patriots (3 point win at home, 3 point loss away), a fluke win at home against the Bucs, a tough win at home against the Bills and an embarrassing loss to the Steelers. They also shocked the Falcons on the road but then got absolutely blasted by the Bengals and Titans. So it's really hard to know what to expect out of this team week to week. As bad as they were last week the Saints will certainly welcome another egg laying. The Jets are a little banged up, too, so the Saints will try to take advantage of some of the inexperience the Jets have… probably a big reason why they are up and down so much by the way. When the Jets play well they are a very tough team, though. Just ask the Patriots.
5. Do the Saints have a problem at kicker?
I'll be keeping an eye on Garrett Hartley after his two bad misses in the dome last week. It's not as easy to kick outside in cold weather and I'm concerned the Saints may be dealing with a slumping kicker. Can he rebound from that horrible performance?
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