5 questions for the Saints before Wild Card weekend - Can they learn from Jalen Hurts?

The 2020 regular season is officially in the books.

Now the New Orleans Saints

Here are the biggest questions I have for the team heading into Sunday’s game:

1. Rest versus rust? The New Orleans Saints should be getting a handful of players back for this game, including Alvin Kamara who will likely miss an entire week of practice, and Michael Thomas, who has missed the past few games. Will they be able to hit the ground running in the offense?

2. What about Marcus? The expectation is players like Thomas, Kamara, Deonte Harris, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson should all return, but it’s unclear what the game status will be of safety Marcus Williams. Make no doubt about it: the Saints defense plays better with Marcus in the secondary.

3. Can the Saints contain Trubisky? I’m not worried about Mitchell Trubisky’s arm necessarily, as the Saints have shown they can defense the pass decently enough, but the Saints defense has struggled to contain quarterbacks who can extend plays with their legs. Patrick Mahomes is an obvious example, but rookie Jalen Hurts ran wild on the Saints defense. That can’t happen with Trubisky if the Saints want to win.

4. Will there be another Gardner incident? The last time these two teams met, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Javon Wims got into a bit of a tussle. You know these two players are ready for Round 2, so which player will let their emotions get the best of them and wind up hurting their team?

5. Has Wil Lutz righted the ship? Wil Lutz missed an early extra point last week against the Carolina Panthers, but nailed all of his field goals and extra point tries afterward. Still, Lutz has been surprisingly shaky of late, and we can’t afford a questionable kicking situation heading into the postseason.

So those are the things I’m looking at in the game. What about you? What are you looking at specifically in this game? Something different? Tell me in the comments. Send me presents. Make sure you follow Canal Street Chronicles on Twitter at @SaintsCSC, on Instagram at @SaintsCSC, “Like” us on Facebook at Canal Street Chronicles, follow us on Instagram at @SaintsCSC and make sure you’re subscribed to our new YouTube channel.