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Coming off a bye week, Jameis Winston and the New Orleans Saints will face off against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field in Seattle, WA, in this week's Monday Night Football.
The Saints are currently 3-2 and trail the 6-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the race for the NFC South title. A defeat tonight would be a massive blow to their divisional title aspirations.
The Saints will need all hands on deck to beat a struggling but resilient Seahawks team. Above all, they will need Jameis Winston to have a good game. But is the quarterback available to play tonight?
Is Jameis Winston playing tonight vs. the Seattle Seahawks?
Yes, Saints quarterback Jameis Winston is playing tonight. The veteran is quietly enjoying a good campaign this season. He has the seventh-highest QBR of any starting quarterback so far this season.
After a conservative approach on offense in the opening few games, Saints head coach Sean Payton has allowed Winston to open things up a bit more in the last two games, leading to successive season highs in passing attempts and passing yards.
Winston will have to shoulder the responsibility of carrying the Saints offense tonight in the absence of "gadget player" Taysom Hill due to a concussion. Without Hill, chances are Winston will play every single offensive snap.
There are a couple of reasons why Winston should have a good outing against the Seahawks.
First, the Seahawks defense ranks in the bottom ten in completion percentage allowed, yards allowed per passing attempt, and quarterback rating. Winston must attack the toothless secondary without fear of the bite.
Second, the Seahawks will not have quarterback Russell Wilson as their signal-caller. The quarterback will miss the game as he continues to recover from the injury he suffered to the middle finger of his throwing hand.
Veteran quarterback Geno Smith will lead the Seahawks offense. Smith is not playing poorly, but he is not Wilson. Meaning, Smith does not mask all of the Seahawks' problems like Wilson does.
It is worth noting that running back Alex Collins is questionable for today's game. Collins' 100+ yards performance last week was the first by a Seahawks running back this season. If the running back is out, there will be even more pressure on Smith.
Winston's number through Week 6
Winston has attempted 116 passes in five games, completing 70 for 892 yards for 12 touchdowns with three interceptions. His passer rating is 108.1
What catches the eye is the low number of interceptions. The last time Winston was the starting quarterback in 2019 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he finished the season with 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.
It may be too soon to say, but it sure looks like Payton has fixed Winston's turnover problem.
