You typically wouldn’t call the fifth game of an NFL season a must-win.
But when the New Orleans Saints host the New York Giants on Sunday, that’s surely what it feels like.
No, there are no playoff implications Sunday. (“PLAYOFFS?”, former Saints head coach Jim Mora would probably scream about this team's postseason hopes.)
And no, first-year Saints head coach Kellen Moore is nowhere near being on the hot seat if he loses.
But when you’re on an eight-game losing steak, including the last four losses to start off the Moore era, you must find a win for morale sake.
That’s both the morale in the locker room and the morale of a fanbase that hasn’t tasted victory at home in 322 days.
To Moore’s credit, his players are still all in.
The Giants are the best chance yet the Saints have of getting Moore career win No. 1.
The Saints put up a good fight in a pair of single-digit losses to the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers in the Dome to start the season. The road games in Seattle and Buffalo were long shots.
When the NFL announced the Saints’ schedule in May, you knew 0-4 was a possibility. And here they are.
Now the Saints get a winnable home games against the Giants.
Even the oddsmakers in Vegas are giving the Saints a chance.
They are 1½-point favorites.
It’s the first time since last December the Saints were favored. That was in Derek Carr’s final game as the Saints’ starting quarterback. The Saints won that day, beating these same Giants in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in a game that wasn’t decided until Bryan Bresee blocked a potential game-tying field goal with 11 seconds left.
The Saints haven’t won since.
And for the most part, they haven’t been expected to.
This week they are.
So do those expectations increase the urgency for Moore?
“No, I haven’t really thought about that,” Moore said. “Obviously our guys know we’ve made some progress. I thought there was some progress made last week. We didn’t get the ultimate job done, but I thought there was progress, and our guys should have confidence coming out of that game in Buffalo that we’re close. Obviously the opportunity presents itself to go play against a really good team.”
Describing the Giants as “really” good is a bit of a stretch.
This time a week ago, the Giants and Saints were the only two remaining winless teams in the NFC. The Giants, with rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart making his first start, got their first win and handed the Los Angeles Chargers their first loss.
“They just beat a team that everyone thought was one of the best teams in the league, a team playing as well as anyone,” Moore said. “They were able to come out and play the games really well. That’s the NFL. Every week is going to be a fun challenge.”
Dart will be starting his first road game. Playing in the Dome could be intimidating. Or it could feel like MetLife Stadium if Giants fans take over the Dome like 49ers fans did three weeks ago.
Dart will be without his top weapon. Receiver Malik Nabers, a former LSU star, tore his ACL in last week’s game.
But the Saints will need to be sharp.
They can’t revert back to the penalties that haunted them the first three games. Or the missed tackles. Or the dropped passes and all the other missed opportunities that have kept them in the loss column.
“We are going in the right direction,” said Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler. “It’s just a few plays each game that we all have to clean up. And we will. I’m confident about that. It’s got to get done, and we’ve got to get it done this week.”
The Saints need it.
Rattler needs it.
He's 0-10 as a starter.
This will be his first time starting in a game the Saints are favored to win.
It's been a while since Saints fans have had much to cheer about. That 2-0 start last season when the whole city was buzzing after the Saints blasted the Carolina Panthers at home and the Dallas Cowboys at Jerry World seems like forever ago. The Saints are a dismal 3-16 since then.
Is this the game they get back on track?
“Every one of these games that I’m in, I figure we are going to win somehow, some way,” said Saints’ defensive end Cam Jordan. “This week is no different. Now that we are a quarter of the way through the season, it feels like it’s a ‘have to’ win. Whereas before it felt like a ‘need to’ win. Now it’s a ‘have to’ win’ and we have to start thinking about what if we don’t.”
“So what if you don’t?” I asked Cam.
“I don’t know,” Jordan said. “That’s why I say it’s a ‘have to’ win.’”
I couldn’t agree more. Even if it is only Week 5.