Saints’ Taliese Fuaga and Chase Young "Highly Doubtful" for Week 3 Against Seahawks
The New Orleans Saints don't have one of the best rosters in football this season. Their offense doesn't have the firepower that other teams do. Spencer Rattler has flashed some potential this year, but it's hard to tell if he's the future.
The Saints have a few bigger problems heading into Week 3. A few key starters were missing from practice on Thursday and it seems like they're at risk of missing Week 3 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Saints at risk to miss Taliese Fuaga, Chase Young in Week 3
Offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga and edge rusher Chase Young were both missing from practice. Young has missed the first two games of the season with a calf injury. His injury wasn't expected to be anything serious, but we're three weeks into the year, and the star edge rusher hasn't appeared for New Orleans. Fuaga has appeared in both games this year, but he's been banged up, too. It's notable that he's missing practice this late in the week.
Saints insider Katherine Terrell recently suggested it was "highly doubtful" that Young would play in Week 3 after not appearing in practice so far. Fuaga was fighting an injury last week, but managed to gut his way through it. Like Young, it's notable that he hasn't practiced this week.
Who needs to step up in place of these two key starters?
If these two stars miss Week 3, the Saints will need some other players to step up in their place.
If Fuaga misses the game, it would put additional pressure on rookie offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. Banks wouldn't be filling in for Fuaga, per se, but there would be more pressure on his side of the line if there's a backup on the other side.
Young is almost certainly going to miss the contest, which continues to put pressure on Carl Granderson. Granderson has stepped up in a huge way, leading the Saints in sacks, while being tied for the league lead in the category. If Young continues to miss time, he's going to be a key piece of the Saints' defense.
Lions’ Jared Goff looking to join Dan Marino in history books vs Ravens
On Sunday afternoon, the Detroit Lions bounced back from their Week 1 dud vs the Green Bay Packers to pick up a huge win over the Chicago Bears in their home opener, scoring 52 points in the process. The offense looked much more like the 2024 elite offense that Lions fans are used to seeing as compared to the Week 1 flop.
Up next for the Ravens is a highly anticipated nighttime matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, and in that game, quarterback Jared Goff will have a chance to tie an NFL legend in the history books.
If Goff throws for 300 or more yards in that contest, he will tie Drew Brees and Dan Marino for the most 300-yard passing games through the first ten years of a career, at 44. Goff threw for 334 yards in the Lions’ Week 2 win over Chicago.
Making matters even more optimistic for Goff on this front is that the one good offense that the Ravens played this year, in Week 1 vs the Buffalo Bills, absolutely shredded their defense, scoring 41 points, which could make Goff hitting the 300-yard mark this week a probable outcome.
A good bounce back for the Lions
Coming off of their Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers, there was considerable doubt as to whether the Detroit Lions truly had lost their offensive magic when offensive coordinator Ben Johnson left to be the new coach of the Chicago Bears.
However, last week, in Johnson’s return to Chicago, the Lions’ offense looked much more like its old self, with Goff eviscerating a listless Bears defense throughout the afternoon.
While the Ravens’ defense certainly has much more talent than Chicago’s, Baltimore has garnered a reputation over the last two years for being soft on that end of the field, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Goff finds similar success against them, albeit in a hostile road environment.
In any case, the Ravens and Lions are slated to kick things off on Monday at 8:15 PM ET from Baltimore. The game will be carried nationally by ESPN.
