Sunday is the New Orleans Saints’ final home game of the 2025 season. The 4-10 Saints will host the 3-11 New York Jets. New Orleans is 2-5 in the Superdome this season following last week’s 20-17 penultimate win over the Carolina Panthers. The Jets are 1-5 on the road, including a 48-20 loss in Jacksonville last week. The Saints and Jets will meet for the 15th time on Sunday. The teams haven’t played in New Orleans since the 2017 season. Here’s a brief history of the games between these teams.
Saints vs. Jets Series History
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Last meeting (2021): Saints (30-9)
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Last game played in New Orleans (2017): Saints (31-19)
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The first meeting between the Saints and Jets was in 1972. Playing in New York, the Saints totaled 333 yards, beating Hall of Famer Joe Namath and the Jets, holding them out of the end zone. However, the Jets made six field goals on the day and won 18-17. The two teams first met in 1977 in New Orleans.
New York once again relied on its kicking ability to win 16-13. The Saints got 107 yards rushing from Chuck Muncie to beat the Jets, but again couldn’t put enough points in the standings. The Saints and Jets faced off five times between 1972 and 1986. The Jets won four of those games, including two in New Orleans. The Saints did win their first victory over the Jets in 1980, the penultimate game in New York that year. New Orleans entered this game with an 0-14 record and trailed 13-7 at halftime. The Saints forced three turnovers on the day from the Jets, including two interceptions by Richard Todd. However, Tony Galbraith’s 78 all-purpose yards and two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter helped New Orleans win 21-20. This would be their only win in 1-15 years.
After losing four of the first five games in the series against the Jets, New Orleans won three straight games from 1989 to 1995. The first of those wins was a 29-14 victory over New Orleans midway through the 1989 season. In that game, the Saints forced 4 turnovers and overcame 4 of their own. Ricky Jackson, Pat Swilling, Wayne Martin and Frank Warren combined for five sacks, and the offense received 131 yards from Eric Martin and 281 yards from Bobby Herbert in the win. The Saints then defeated the Jets on the road on the day after Christmas in 1992 (20-0) and on Christmas Eve in 1995 (12-0). It was the only time in the series that either team was eliminated.
The last time the Jets won in New Orleans was midway through the 2001 season. New Orleans trailed 13-0 at halftime but came back in the second half. Despite four turnovers, there were only 246 yards of total offense and the Jets had just 272 yards of total offense. Trailing 16-9 late in the fourth quarter, the Saints drove the ball to the New York six-yard line with a chance to tie the game. New Orleans quarterback Aaron Brooks was knocked down by an ugly facemask penalty during a scramble by Jets defensive back Damian Robinson. Saints offensive lineman Kyle Turley came to Brooks’ defense, ripped off Robinson’s helmet and threw it onto the field. This not only offset Robinson’s foul, but also caused an additional penalty on Turley, bringing the team back to 20 points. New Orleans couldn’t recover enough to hit the game-tying punt in the end zone.
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Since that unusual ending, the Saints are 4-1 against the Jets. Two of those wins came in the Superdome. In 2009, Saints running back Pierre Thomas threw for 132 yards in a 24-10 home victory over New York, and their defense forced four turnovers and four sacks. The last time these teams faced off in the Superdome was at the end of the 2017 season. This game was supposed to be a close game as the Saints committed three turnovers. New Orleans pulled away in the fourth quarter and put the game out of reach.
Quarterback Drew Brees threw for 281 yards in the win, including 93 yards to wide receiver Michael Thomas. Running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara were the biggest difference in the game, combining for 240 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in the 31-19 victory.
Notable numbers
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Aaron Glenn is Jets’ fourth different head coach in last four games against Saints
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Brady Cook will become the 10th different starting quarterback the Jets have used in their past 10 games against the Saints. Ken O’Brien (1986, 1989) was the last Jets quarterback to repeat as a starter against the Saints
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Demario Davis was the starting back the Jets last played against New Orleans and in their 2013 win over the Saints. In 2017, Davis led the Jets with eight tackles. Davis intercepts Drew Brees for the first time in his career during Jets win in 2013
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Sunday marks the third straight meeting between the Saints and Jets in December. This will be the eighth of 15 meetings between these teams in December. The Saints have won each of their last five games in December.
This article originally appeared in Saints Wire: Saints vs. Jets Preview: Series history, key stats from Week 16
