The New Orleans Saints are set to wrap up their NFC East competitions this week with a home game against the Washington Commanders. The Saints are coming off a 14-11 victory over the New York Giants that came down to the final play, while the Commanders are coming off a bye week, and prior to that a 42-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans.
This is certainly not a favorable matchup as the Saints come in without starting quarterback Derek Carr, and even with him, the offensive side of the ball has struggled immensely in many of their recent games.
With that said, heading into the Week 15 matchup, here are three causes for concern for the Saints side of things:
Jake Haener is getting his first career start in this game
The New Orleans Saints made their decision at the quarterback position, and ultimately they decided to go with Jake Haener over Spencer Rattler and Ben DiNucci. Haener has not started a game for the Saints in his first season and a little over a half, and this will be his first time getting substantial playing time in the regular season. In the seven games he has entered to date, he has completed 14 of his 29 passes (48.3%) for 177 yards and 1 touchdown to 0 interceptions.
To be completely frank, we have no clue how this game will go under Haener, and while he has potential, the odds that he is going to outperform whatever Derek Carr brought to the table are slim. Having the lights of the Caesars Superdome on him this week, he would need to step up immensely against an 8-5 Commanders squad and lead the team, not just facilitate the offense.
There is a clear talent disparity at the skills positions this week
The Saints have been lacking at the skills positions in recent weeks due to the injuries to Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Bub Means previously occurring. Now they have to go up against a team with Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Brian Robinson, and Zach Ertz, who have all had years varying from solid to great. Daniels at the helm has been an outstanding addition and his rookie season, while not perfect, has been about as good as you could ask for. Meanwhile the Saints will be revolving around Alvin Kamara and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, as those two have been the focal point of the offense outside Juwan Johnson and Foster Moreau. We will see if this matters against the Saints’ high level defense, but ultimately putting all their eggs in one basket will likely not pan out well.
The Commanders’ passing game is extremely efficient, which bodes poorly for a struggling Saints secondary
The Washington Commanders passing game has been strong overall, but their biggest strength is the efficiency they play with, specifically a 69.8% completion rate on passes, which is good enough for fourth place in the entire NFL. The Saints secondary on the other side has been having a difficult time adjusting to life without Marshon Lattimore. They have allowed the 5th-most passing yards (3,390), 6th-most 20-plus yard passing plays (46), and are tied for the most allowed 40-plus yard passing plays (10) as well. They have struggled immensely in recent weeks, and this week seems like it will be no different
