Saints aiming to end five-game skid against the Broncos
NEW ORLEANS (8-2) at DENVER (4-6)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET, Fox
OPENING LINE - New Orleans by 5ˆ½
RECORD VS. SPREAD - New Orleans 5-5, Denver 6-4
SERIES RECORD - Broncos lead 9-2
LAST MEETING- Broncos beat Saints 25-23 on Nov. 13, 2016
LAST WEEK - Saints beat Falcons 24-9; Broncos beat Dolphins 20-13
AP PRO32 RANKING - Saints No. 3, Broncos No. 21
SAINTS OFFESE - OVERALL (12), RUSH (8), PASS (14).
SAINTS DEFENSE - OVERALL (3), RUSH (2), PASS (11).
BRONCOS OFFENSE - OVERALL (22), RUSH (15), PASS (21).
BRONCOS DEFENSE - OVERALL (13), RUSH (19), PASS (9).
STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - The Saints haven't beaten Denver since 1994, losing five straight in the series. ... QB Taysom Hill is expected to get his second career start for the injured Drew Brees. Hill completed 18 of 23 attempts (78.3%) for 233 yards with a 108.9 rating and led the Saints with 51 yards rushing last week. ... Hill is still seeking his first career touchdown pass. ... The versatile Hill has six TD runs and seven TD catches in his career in regular-season games and has two TD catches in the playoffs. ... RB Alvin Kamara ranks second in the NFL with 1,179 scrimmage yards (648 receiving, 531 rushing) and last week became the first player with at least 500 yards rushing and receiving in each of his first four NFL seasons. ... Kamara leads NFL RBs with 67 receptions and ranks second in total TDs with 12. ... WR Michael Thomas, the 2019 Offensive Player of the Year, had a season-high nine receptions for 104 yards last week. ... DE Cameron Jordan had a season-high three sacks last week. ... DE Trey Hendrickson had two sacks last week to tie for the league lead with a career-high 9ˆ½ sacks this season. ... CB Janoris Jenkins had a career-high five pass breakups and his second interception in Week 11. ... CB Marshon Lattimore (abdomen) and TE Josh Hill (concussion) practiced this week and are expected to return after sitting out last week's Saints victory over Atlanta. ... QB Drew Lock leads the AFC with 11 interceptions but has won two starts this season in which he failed to throw a TD, against New England and Miami. ... The Broncos rushed for a season-high 189 yards last week, paced by RBs Melvin Gordon (15-84, 2 TDs) and Phillip Lindsay (14-82). It represented the seventh time since the 1970 merger that two Broncos had at least 15 carries and 80 yards rushing in the same game. ... S Justin Simmons has four interceptions, including a game-sealer in the end zone with 1:03 left against Miami last week. ... Simmons' 15 career interceptions are tied with Deltha O'Neal (2000-03) for second most in team history through a player's first five seasons in Denver. Steve Foley had 19 from 1976-80. ... OLB Malik Reed leads all undrafted NFL players with 6ˆ½ sacks this season. ... Denver's defense ranks second in the NFL in keeping teams in the red zone from scoring. At 48.6%, the Broncos join the Chicago Bears (44.1%) as the only teams in the league that have denied more than half of their opponents' red-zone opportunities. ... The Broncos forced five three-and-outs last week while allowing a season-low 223 total yards. ... NT DeShawn Williams is coming off his best game with a pair of sacks of Tua Tagovailoa. Before that, he had a half a sack as a member of the Bengals on Dec. 4, 2016. ... Fantasy tip: In addition to no-brainers in this game -- Kamara and Thomas -- it's worth noting that Broncos WR Tim Patrick has topped 100 yards three times this season, including last week when he had five receptions for 119 yards against the Dolphins.
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