Saints vs. Jets preview: Series history, notable stats for Week 16

Sunday marks the final home game of the 2025 season for the New Orleans Saints. The 4-10 Saints will host the 3-11 New York Jets. New Orleans is 2-5 in the Superdome this season after last week's 20-17 last second defeat of the Carolina Panthers. The Jets have a 1-5 road record, including a 48-20 loss in Jacksonville last week. The Saints and Jets will meet for just the 15th time on Sunday. These teams haven't played in New Orleans since the 2017 season. Here's a look through the brief history of games between these franchises.

Saints vs. Jets Series History

• Overall: 8-6
• Home: 3-3
• Last 5 matchups: 4-1
• Last meeting (2021): Saints (30-9)
• Last meeting in New Orleans (2017): Saints (31-19)

The first meeting between the Saints and Jets wasn't until 1972. Playing in New York, the Saints gained 333 yards of total offense to outgain Hall of Famer Joe Namath and the Jets and held them out of the end zone. However, the Jets got six field goals on the day to pull out an 18-17 victory. These teams met in New Orleans for the first time in 1977.

New York again pulled out a close win on the strength of their kicking game by a 16-13 score. The Saints got 107 rushing yards from Chuck Muncie and outgained the Jets, but were again unable to put enough points on the board.Between 1972 and 1986, the Saints and Jets met five times. The Jets won four of those matchups, including two in New Orleans. The Saints did get their first victory over the Jets in 1980, with that coming in New York during that years second to last game. New Orleans had come into that game with an 0-14 record and trailed 13-7 at the half. The Saints would force 3 Jets turnovers on the day, including 2 interceptions of Richard Todd. However, 78 all-purpose yards and 2 fourth quarter rushing touchdowns from Tony Galbreath would propel New Orleans to a 21-20 victory. It would be their only win during a 1-15 year.

After losing four of their first five against the Jets in the series, New Orleans won three consecutive outings against them between 1989 and 1995. The first of those victories was a 29-14 win in New Orleans midway through the 1989 campaign. In that game, the Saints forced 4 turnovers to overcome their own 4 turnovers. Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling, Wayne Martin, and Frank Warren combined for 5 sacks as the offense got 131 yards receiving from Eric Martin and 281 yards passing from Bobby Hebert in the win. The Saints then recorded consecutive shutouts of the Jets on the road on the day after Christmas in 1992 (20-0) and Christmas Eve in 1995 (12-0). These have been the only shutouts by either team in the series.

The last time the Jets won in New Orleans was midway through the 2001 season. New Orleans fell behind by a 13-0 score going into halftime but mounted a second half comeback. This was despite committing 4 turnovers and gaining only 246 yards of total offense while holding the Jets to just 272 total yards. Down 16-9 late in the fourth quarter, the Saints drove to the New York six yard line with a good chance to tie the game. New Orleans quarterback Aaron Brooks was taken down by an ugly face facemask penalty on a scramble by Jets defensive back Damien Robinson. Saints offensive lineman Kyle Turley, coming to the defense of Brooks, ripped Robinson's helmet off and hurled it down the field. That not only would offset Robinson's foul, but caused an additional penalty on Turley that moved his team back to the 20. New Orleans could not recover and were unable to punch the ball in the end zone to tie the game.

Since that unusual ending, the Saints have a 4-1 record against the Jets. Two of those wins were in the Superdome. The Saints got 132 scrimmage yards from running back Pierre Thomas during a 24-10 home defeat of New York in 2009, with their defense forcing 4 turnovers and recording 4 sacks. These teams last squared off in the Superdome late in the 2017 season. It was a closer game than it should have been because of 3 turnovers committed by the Saints. New Orleans was able to pull away and put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter for the win.

Quarterback Drew Brees threw for 281 yards in the victory, with 93 of those yards going to wide receiver Michael Thomas. Running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara were the biggest differences in the outcome, racking up a combined 240 yards from scrimmage and accounting for 3 touchdowns in the 31-19 victory.

Notable Numbers

• Aaron Glenn is the fourth different head coach for the Jets in their last four meetings against the Saints
• Brady Cook will become the 10th different starting quarterback the Jets will use in their last 10 meetings against the Saints. Ken O'Brien (1986, 1989) was the last Jets quarterback to make repeat starts against the Saints
• Demario Davis was a starting linebacker for the Jets the last time they played in New Orleans in 2017 and the last time they beat the Saints in 2013. In 2017, Davis led the Jets with 8 tackles. Davis had his first career interception off Drew Brees during the Jets 2013 win
• Sunday marks the third straight meeting between the Saints and Jets in December. It will be the 8th time these teams have met in December out of their 15 overall meetings. The Saints have won the last five times these teams have played in December.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints vs. Jets preview: Series history, notable stats for Week 16