Breaking News: X-Factors That Could Determine The Result Of Saints-Chiefs Monday Night Showdown… See More

As the Saints go into Kansas City looking to pull off an upset, here are the X-Factors that could help it happen.

The 2-2 New Orleans Saints try to break a two-game losing streak but will have to do it against the 4-0 and two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on the road. This is just the 13th team these teams have met, with the Chiefs holding a 7-5 edge in the series. The Saints are actually 3-2 against the Chiefs in Kansas City.

New Orleans comes into this contest extremely banged up. On defense, linebackers Pete Werner and Willie Gay Jr. will both miss tonight’s game with injuries. Taysom Hill, C Erik McCoy, RG Cesar Ruiz, and C Shane Lemieux will be absent on the offensive side, with LG Lucas Patrick considered a game-time decision.

The Chiefs have rarely won in impressive fashion over the last year and a half. As good teams do, they consistently make the necessary plays in key moments of big games. The same cannot be said for New Orleans.

Too often over the last two seasons and this year, the Saints have failed to make the necessary plays to close out games. In two years and four games under Dennis Allen, New Orleans is an abysmal 4-13 against teams that are .500 or better when they play them.

To pull off the upset with a shorthanded squad tonight, the stars will definitely need to come up big. Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, and Rashid Shaheed must shine for QB Derek Carr on offense. Demario Davis, Marshon Lattimore, and Tyrann Mathieu are among the defensive stars that take on the monumental task of trying to shut down QB Patrick Mahomes and company

Mahomes has been sacked seven times this season, but has been hurried and under heavy pressure consistently throughout the year. Most of their issues have been at left tackle. Rookie second-round choice Kingsley Suamataia was benched after two games of subpar play. He was replaced by Wanya Morris, who hasn’t fared a great deal better.

Taking most of the snaps across from Kansas City’s left tackle will be Chase Young and Carl Granderson. The two ends are responsible for 40 of the 77 QB pressures generated by the defense.

Granderson has three sacks so far. Young has just a half sack, but a team-high seven QB hits. While each end has been disruptive, they both must finish plays more consistently. It’s a problem shared by the entire front seven of the Saints.

A talented New Orleans secondary will look to create plays, along with preventing key gains, against a shorthanded Chiefs receiving corps. Their job will be made much easier if Young, Granderson, and the defensive front can make life chaotic for Mahomes.

Kansas City has the league’s 22nd ranked pass defense, allowing nearly 228 yards per game through the air and 64% completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks. Protecting the quarterback against pass rushers Chris Jones, George Karlaftis, and Felix Anudike-Uzomah is a problem. But if given time to throw, pass catchers have had success against Kansas City coverage.

The Chiefs have been extremely vulnerable to tight ends this year, giving up a 50-yard catch to Kyle Pitts and allowing a combined 16 receptions and 202 yards to Isaiah Likely and Mike Gesicki.

Enter Juwan Johnson, the invisible man of the New Orleans offense this season. Johnson has just four receptions for 39 yards out of six targets this year. In two games, he wasn’t targeted at all. An athletic pass catcher with the route tree of a wideout, it was thought that Johnson would flourish in new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s scheme. So far, this has been far from the case.

Wideouts Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and RB Alvin Kamara have combined for 52 (72%) of Derek Carr’s 72 completions for 691 yards, 83.9% of the team’s passing yardage. Those three will continue to be a huge part of the attack and will be a key to any chance of upsetting the Chiefs. However, no other pass catcher on the roster has more than six targets or five catches.

This would be a great night for Johnson to emerge for an offense desperate for a complementary weapon. A big outing from Johnson would be a great outlet for Carr to get rid of the ball quickly behind a makeshift offensive line. It would also force the Chiefs to adjust their coverage, providing more one-on-one matchups for Olave, Shaheed, and Kamara.