Short weeks can be hard on NFL teams with less time to prepare than usual, and that puts the New Orleans Saints in a tough spot as they open Week 7 with a visit from the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football. Starting quarterback Derek Carr is expected to miss multiple weeks with an oblique injury he suffered in a Week 5 loss to the Chiefs, and the Saints will once again turn to rookie Spencer Rattler under center for another trial-by-fire start. Rattler made his first NFL start on Sunday against the Buccaneers and went 22-of-40 for 243 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in a 51-27 blowout loss.
Rattler wasn’t the issue as much as the Saints defense was — the unit gave up nearly 600 yards of offense to Tampa Bay. The Broncos, led by fellow rookie QB Bo Nix, will be looking for a bounce-back performance after a 23-16 loss in Week 6 to the Los Angeles Chargers, in which they didn’t score until the fourth quarter. Nix has completed just over 61% of his throws this season and has five touchdown passes and five interceptions on the year heading into Week 7.
You can chat about all of it with other fans and Yahoo Sports NFL experts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald using our new Game Discussions feature in the Yahoo Sports app. You can download the app for Apple here and Google here, and make sure you already have the latest version. Then you can open the Saints-Broncos game page, tap “Join the Discussions,” agree to the guidelines, and then join the fun.
