The Monday night game in Week 7 will pit the New Orleans Saints against the Seattle Seahawks. The Saints were able to secure a win over the Washington Football Team in Week 5 before heading into their bye week in Week 6. The win over Washington helped New Orleans improve to 3-2 on the season, which puts them in second place in the NFC South.

The Seahawks are in a terrible spot moving forward as they don’t currently have Russell Wilson to bail them out in games. Geno Smith is replacing Wilson and while the defense has been Seattle’s weakness, now their offense is going to have issues moving the ball until Wilson returns.

With the Monday night contest not expected to be an exciting one, here are five reasons why the Saints will defeat the Seahawks in Week 7.

Jameis Winston Will Need To Just Play Mistake-Free Football

It is always risky to have confidence in Jameis Winston playing mistake-free football, but he can achieve that in Week 7. The Seahawks don’t force many turnovers and their defense is absolutely atrocious in every sense of the word. I don’t give Seattle much of a chance to emerge victorious on Monday, but one way they could stay within striking distance is if Winston makes errant mistakes.

Regardless of who you are playing, giving an offense short fields to work with are ways to lose games. I imagine the Saints will have a conservative game plan in place for Monday night’s game.

Perfect Time For An Alvin Kamara Week

Before the 2021 season, Alvin Kamara was never a running back that was going to carry the ball 20+ times. However, in the first five games for the Saints this season, he’s had three games where he’s carried it 20+ times.

What we’re also not accustomed to seeing is inconsistent usage in the passing game from Kamara. But as the Saints come out of their bye week, they likely spent time adjusting their offense to get Kamara even more touches, especially with Tony Jones going down with an injury. This is a perfect week for Kamara to have his best game of the season.

Saints Defense Will Have No Trouble Containing Seahawks Offense

While the offense of the Saints has been up and down to begin the season, the defense has been fairly consistent. New Orleans has performed well on defense this season despite guys bouncing in and out of the lineup.

Through the first six weeks, the Saints have the No. 3 ranked defense in terms of DVOA. That doesn’t bode well for a team like the Seahawks that is operating with a backup quarterback. I don’t expect the Seahawks to be able to move the ball with success often as it could be an ugly game for Seattle’s offense.

New Orleans Coming Off Of A Bye Week

Sean Payton has always done a remarkable job getting his team for a strong push following a bye week. Since the 2016 season, the Saints have gone 3-1 or better in their first four games after a bye week. Furthermore, in 2017, 2018, and 2020, they had win streaks of 6+ following their bye week.

While the previous games were with Drew Brees under center, this Saints team is still capable of winning games with Winston at the quarterback position. I’ll side with Payton’s historic success after bye weeks ahead of Monday night’s showdown between the Saints and the Seahawks.

Seattle Is Shorthanded On Offense

We’ve already mentioned that Smith is playing in relief of Wilson at quarterback for the Seahawks. But besides Wilson, Seattle is also hampered by injuries at running back. Chris Carson continues to deal with a neck injury that forced him to be placed on injured reserve and Alex Collins is enduring multiple injuries. Rashaad Penny could make his season debut in Week 7, but that won’t be enough to overcome the injuries the offense is dealing with right now.

Barring an unforeseen development of Smith turning into Wilson at quarterback, the Saints should be able to win with ease in Week 7.