Saints at Seahawks how to watch: TV, live stream, picks, what to know for ‘Monday Night Football’ showdown

Week 7 of the 2021 NFL season has been fairly entertaining already, with a number of upsets taking heart stage and most of the league’s high stars acting at a particularly excessive degree. The ultimate sport on the schedule this week could also be extra notable for its injured stars (Russell Wilson and Michael Thomas), however the Seahawks and Saints nonetheless put expertise on the sector and can nonetheless do battle to find out who stays within the thick of the wild-card race and who begins to fall far behind. 

Will the Seahawks pull off an upset at house, or will the Saints maintain enterprise in a hostile setting? We’re glad you requested, as a result of we’re right here to interrupt down the matchup. However first, here is how one can watch the sport. 

How you can watch 

Date: Monday, Oct. 25 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: Lumen Discipline (Seattle, WA)
TV: ESPN | Stream: fuboTV (click here)
Comply with: CBS Sports App
Odds: Saints -4, O/U 42.5

When the Saints have the ball

The Seattle protection is in a nasty manner in the mean time, checking in useless final in yards allowed per sport, twenty first in factors allowed per sport, and twenty second in defensive effectivity, per Soccer Outsiders’ DVOA. They battle to cease each the run and the go. They don’t get a lot stress on opposing quarterbacks (29.4% stress price towards a league common of 32.4%, per Tru Media), and they don’t power very many turnovers, taking the ball away from opponents on the sixth-lowest price within the league (7.2% of possessions). 

Jameis Winston has toned down the turnovers a bit this yr, largely because of Sean Payton and firm devising ultra-conservative sport plans that don’t ask a lot of Winston past taking the occasional deep shot down the sector. His 23.2 go makes an attempt per sport common ranked thirty second amongst 33 certified quarterbacks heading into Week 7, forward of solely Justin Fields. The typical depth of Winston’s throws (8.8 yards) is down 1.6 yards from his closing season as a starter in Tampa Bay, when he was among the many most aggressive passers within the NFL. 

Regardless of being schemed into simpler throws and being requested to throw into tight home windows much less typically than earlier than, Winston has nonetheless under-performed his anticipated completion proportion this season, in response to NFL Subsequent Gen Stats. Working with a skeleton crew at broad receiver (Michael Thomas stays out after preseason surgical procedure), he merely doesn’t have a top-flight perimeter goal to which he can funnel the ball. Working again Alvin Kamara is the de facto No. 1 receiver, however the Saints have felt compelled to load his plate with carries on account of each the absence of backup operating again Tony Jones and their efforts to attenuate Winston’s position within the offense. 

Fortunate for New Orleans, its offensive line is great, and particularly it’s wonderful in clearing the way in which for the run sport. The Saints rank fifth in Soccer Outsiders’ Adjusted Line Yards per carry and have been stuffed on a league-low 10% of their rush makes an attempt. Seattle’s line of defense ranks twenty second within the proportion of runs stopped at or behind the road of scrimmage, indicating that the Saints ought to have the ability to get sufficient push in entrance of Kamara to constantly achieve yardage. 

One of the simplest ways to focus on the Seahawks by means of the air is to determine the person Jamal Adams is guarding and get him rotated in area. Opponents have been ready to try this with relative consistency this season, however the Seahawks may lastly lean into it and simply use him in and across the field much more typically, crowding the road of scrimmage and daring Winston to beat them excessive and on the surface. 

When the Seahawks have the ball

Pete Carroll’s takeaway from final week’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was, because it nearly all the time is, that his crew must run the ball extra typically. So, anticipate to see a heavy dose of Alex Collins (if he is lively) and Rashaad Penny, with maybe a splash of DeeJay Dallas and/or Travis Homer mixing in as properly. 

We must always not, nonetheless, anticipate that run sport to be all that efficient towards the Saints, who enter the sport ranked second in Soccer Outsiders’ run protection DVOA. They’ve restricted enemy backs to simply 3.3 yards a pop, lead the NFL in Adjusted Line Yards allowed per carry, have stuffed 23% of opponent runs behind the road of scrimmage (fifth-best within the NFL) and have excelled at taking away breakaway runs, rating first within the league in second-level yards allowed per carry and second in open-field yards allowed per carry. 

So, in all probability, the Seahawks will succeed or fail on offense on this sport primarily based on the efficiency of Geno Smith. And that’s not nice information for the Seahawks, if final week’s sport towards Pittsburgh is any indication. And that is not essentially on account of something having to do with Smith’s efficiency. It was simply clear that the Seahawks didn’t belief him sufficient to place the sport on his shoulders. They repeatedly known as screens in lengthy down-and-distance conditions slightly than letting him attempt to decide up first downs on his personal, not often allowed him to throw it on early downs, and simply typically didn’t play aggressively within the go sport till they needed to.

Seattle additionally as soon as once more allowed stress on a significantly above-average share of their quarterback’s dropbacks, though that quarterback was Smith and never Russell Wilson. The Saints have not finished fairly nearly as good a job as we would anticipate of getting after the opposing passer, however opponents are inclined to have extra success doing so towards Seattle than towards different groups. 

Backside line: that is an offense that lives and breathes primarily based on what Wilson could make occur out of skinny air, and Wilson isn’t enjoying.

Newest Odds:

Seattle Seahawks
+4

Prediction: Saints 27, Seahawks 13