Jets vs. Saints | NFL Week 16 Breakdown & Best Bets: Let Brady…Cook?
Written by: Varun Sharma
Last Update: Sat Dec 20, 2025, 2:17 am ET
Read Time: 5 minutes
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This one's going to be ugly. The Jets head to New Orleans for an inter-conference matchup with Tyler Shough and the Saints. Both teams looking for a little bit of good a the tail end of really bad seasons. Let's jump right into this one.
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Game Information
Matchup Information
- Location: Casesars Superdome; New Orleans, Louisiana
- Date: Sunday, December 21st, 2025
- Kickoff: 1:00 PM EST
Quarterback Matchup
- New York Jets: Brady Cook (2024 – N/A)
- New Orleans Saints: Tyler Shough (2024 – N/A)
Betting Odds
Odds via Lucky Rebel, an industry leader in the sports betting world.
Analysis & Breakdown
Brady Did Not Cook
Brady Cook made his first career NFL start last week and it did not go according to plan. The rookie threw for just 176 yards, managed 1 touchdown pass but also threw 3 interceptions. Cook did complete 66% of his passes but for an average of just 5.3 yards per completion. He didn't look great and it's suffice to say that he won't be the guy for this Jets team moving forward.
New York's just looking to finish the year and probably stack as many losses as possible. The team's got 3 wins on the year an that's 1 more than the teams competing for next year's #1 overall pick. New York's in desperate need of a viable QB and its something they'll need to address in this upcoming draft. Until then all they can hope for is more losses and a better pick in the draft.
On the year, the Jets offense ranked 27th in points scored, 29th in redzone efficiency, 29th in first downs, 28th in third down conversion rate and dead last in pass yards. It's been ugly on that side of the ball and it doesn't get any better defensively.
The Jets rank 30th in points allowed, 25th in opponent redzone efficiency, 25th in opponent first downs and 29th in opponent rush yards. They've spent a majority of their season trailing and this week it's looking like it'll be more of the same.
Shough Might Shock
The Saints came into this year with it looking like a rebuilding year. Spencer Rattler was the team's starting QB in Week 1 and since then we've seen a ton of turnover. The Saints lived up to the hype, at least in terms of being a team in the midst of a rebuild. They've won just 4 of their 14 games and have their eyes set on next year.
What interesting is that 3 of those 4 wins have come with Tyler Shough getting the start. Shough's averaging 226.0 pass yards per game as a starter, completing 69.0% of his passes with 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He's thrown for for 240+ yards in four of the six games and has this Saints offense looking better than it did with Rattler under center.
Defensively it's been ugly in the Bayou. The Saints rank 19th in points allowed, 26th in rush yards allowed, 20th in sacks and just haven't done a good job of generating pressure.
Despite the bad defense, the Saints have won back to back games for the first time all year and look to build on that momentum with a soft matchup against the Jets this week.
Sunday's Best Bets
Chris Olave 61.5 Receiving Yards (-110) | Lucky Rebel
It's hard to trust this Saints' offense to do anything but this Jets defense is so bad I had to tap in with Olave. In the Saints' last four games, all four with Shough under center; Olave's seeing a 33.8% first read target share, directly leading to a 24.3% target share and 22 total receptions in that time frame.
What stood out to me was the fact that four of Shough's six starts have come on the road. When you look at his two home starts you can see how much better he's been in front of the home crowd and in the dome. Shough's completing 72% of his passes when in the Super Dome and averaging 257.5 pass yards per game. He's thrown the ball a total of 75 times in two games and 28.2% of his pass attempts went to Olave.
In the two home games, Olave's garnered 22 targets, reeling in 15 for 155 yards and 1 touchdown. Olave's first read target share jumps to 40% in these two home games and it's very obvious to see; when Shough's playing well it because Olave's been a big part of the offense.
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