There’s a lot on the line between the New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals this week. One of these teams will fall to 2-4 on Sunday afternoon (barring a godforsaken tie in overtime), seriously jeopardizing their season. And a former Bengals quarterback could be starting against his old team, even if Jameis Winston is rallying to prevent that from happening. We’ll just have to wait and see who ends up dueling Joe Burrow in the stadium he once won a college football national title. There will be plenty of LSU Tigers faithful crowding the stands with split loyalties.
So let’s explore everything you need to know going into this game. Get up to speed on the broadcast channel, kickoff time, referee assignment, players to watch, and more:
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Game information
When: Sunday, Oct. 16 at 12:00 p.m. CT
Where: Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, La.
TV: CBS
Greg Gumbel is on play-by-play for CBS this week, with Adam Archuleta providing color commentary and AJ Ross reporting from the sidelines. The game will be broadcast in both home markets as well as all parts of Alabama, Mississippi, large swaths of Georgia, and areas within the Florida panhandle and Tennessee and Arkansas. You can see these all mapped out in green from this graphic courtesy of 506sports:
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Referee assignment
Land Clark and his crew have been assigned to work this game. He’s one of the less-experienced referees you’ll find around the NFL, having just been promoted to the role (he was previously a field judge) in 2020. So this is Clark’s third year in the league as a referee heading his own crew, and it’s just his second game to work with the Saints. Clark officiated last year’s Saints road win over the New York Jets: a 30-9 blowout in which New Orleans was penalized 4 times for 42 yards, with New York drawing 5 fouls for 45 yards.
What about this season? So far, Clark’s crew is tied with Clay Martin’s for the second-most penalty flags thrown per game (16.2), with 30 fouls going against home teams and 37 against the visitors. But the 109.2 penalty yards per game they’re averaging is the fifth-most, and the majority of the flags his crew is throwing are for false starts (16) and offensive holding (12) fouls. So they’re keeping a close eye on the offensive line play.
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Last meeting: Saints 51, Bengals 14 (Nov. 11, 2018)
The Bengals are a rare opponent for the Saints as an AFC team (they’ve only met 14 times, dating back to 1970, and the all-time record between them is tied at 7-7) so a lot has changed since their last kickoff with Cincinnati. In that 2018 matchup, the Saints kicked the doors down with a 28-point second quarter powered by two Drew Brees touchdown passes (to Mark Ingram and Michael Thomas) as well as a pair of scoring runs from Alvin Kamara.
New Orleans finished the game with 509 total yards of offense, running 47 times for 244 yards on the ground. Then-Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton struggled to match their firepower; he was sacked four times, intercepted twice, and saw his offense go 0-for-6 on third down (converting 1 of their 2 fourth down opportunities). It was about as dominant a game you could play. Longtime Saints punter Thomas Morstead never even tried a single punt on the afternoon.
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Bengals QB: Joe Burrow
Burrow, 26, hasn’t enjoyed the same success he found in last year’s Super Bowl season. He’s completing a lower percentage of his pass attempts (64.9% versus last year’s league-leading 70.4%) and throwing fewer touchdown passes (4.7% against last year’s 6.5%) and taking sacks at a similar rate (8.6% compared to 8.9% last year). He does have one of the most dynamic receiving corps to work with, but the offseason upgrades Cincinnati invested in along the offensive line have yet to pay off, and he’s beginning to develop some of his own bad habits as a passer.
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Bengals players to watch
WR Ja’Marr Chase: Who else to start with? Chase is already one of the NFL’s best receivers, though his season hasn’t started off as hot as he’d have hoped. He’s caught 32 receptions for 343 yards, converting 23 first downs and scoring twice. If Marshon Lattimore can’t play due to injury, he could quickly become a big problem.
DE Trey Hendrickson: Remember him? Hendrickson only has 2.5 sacks on the season so far but he’s forced two fumbles and has been credited with 22 combined pressures at Pro Football Focus. He’s impactful on a down-to-down basis, and Saints left tackle James Hurst will have his hands full facing off against him.
RB Joe Mixon: Mixon is already up to 96 rushing attempts on the season but he’s gained just 3.1 yards per carry; still, he’s dangerous in the open field, and the Saints must make cleaner tackles to limit his impact. Just one missed tackle at the wrong time is all he needs to go yard.
S Vonn Bell: Another former Saint, Bell only intercepted 1 pass in 61 games with New Orleans but he leads Cincinnati with 3 interceptions this season. He’s their defensive captain and someone to watch whenever the Saints drop back to pass.
TE Hayden Hurst: The former Atlanta Falcons tight end has found a nice role for himself with the Bengals, matching No. 2 wide receiver Tee Higgins (who may be out with an ankle injury) in targets (28) and receptions (20), though he’s gained just 157 yards. Still, he’s converted 10 first downs and is something of a run-after-catch threat.
CB Eli Apple: Yeah, he’s back. Pro Football Reference found he has allowed the most completions (18) and receiving yards (26) into his coverage for the Bengals this season, also leading the team in missed tackles (4). He’s a clear vulnerability for the Saints to pick on. All of his trash talk since leaving New Orleans is nice billboard material, but at the end of the day it’s his weaknesses as a player that will get him posterized.
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Injury report
The Bengals rested right tackle La’el Collins on Wednesday while left tackle Jonah Williams was limited with a knee injury. They don’t have any really notable absences; even their injured players are at least limited in practice. That’s not the case for New Orleans, who had seven guys out on Wednesday with various injuries, and seven others limited with theirs. These are two very different injury situations.
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This is the first leg on a quick turnaround
Challenging as this game will be, it’s only the first part of a stretch in which the Saints will play two games in five days. After hosting Cincinnati at noon on Sunday, they’ll fly out from New Orleans to visit the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night. These are two fast-paced offenses with plenty of receiving talent. It’s putting a lot of pressure on a Saints pass defense missing multiple key pieces.
Will Jameis Winston play this week? He’s been limited in practice with back and ankle injuries, and he may not want the coaches to get a longer look at Andy Dalton in control of his offense. If he does return, he’ll have to gut out some serious punishment to make it through two NFL games within the same 103-hour stretch.
