According to a report from the NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport, New Orleans (5-8 straight up, 5-8 against the spread) veteran quarterback Derek Carr has a broken left hand that’ll sideline him for several weeks and possibly the rest of the season.
Carr sustained the injury in Sunday’s 14-11 win at the New York Giants, who covered the spread as 5.5-point home underdogs. Carr completed 20-of-31 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
In 10 games this year, the Fresno St. product has connected on 67.7 percent of his throws for 2,145 yards with a 15/5 touchdown-to-interception ratio. He has 71 rushing yards, one TD and a 4.2 yards-per-carry average.
During his Monday presser, New Orleans interim head coach Darren Rizzi added that Carr is also in concussion protocol. He was forced out of the game against the Giants with about nine minutes left, sustaining both injuries on a nine-yard run.
Carr was replaced by backup Jake Haener. The Saints held on to win thanks to a blocked field goal from 35 yards out by DL Bryan Bresee with 11 seconds remaining.
Per Rapaport, the Saints aren’t planning on putting Carr on injured reserve, leaving open the possibility of him returning. Carr missed three games earlier this year.
Rookie Spencer Rattler started all three games that Carr missed in October. New Orleans lost all three of those contests.
Rattler completed 59-of-99 passes (59.6%) for 571 yards and one TD compared to a pair of interceptions. He had 61 rushing yards and a 6.8 YPC average on nine attempts.
Rattler was benched in a 26-8 loss at the L.A. Chargers. Haener completed 9-0f-17 throws for 122 yards in relief against the Chargers. Nothing has been officially announced, but I expect Haener to get the starting nod next week.
The Saints finish the season with games vs. Washington, at Green Bay, vs. Las Vegas and at Tampa Bay. They are two games back of the Buccaneers for the lead in the NFC South.
FanDuel has Tampa Bay as a -230 ‘chalk’ to win the division. Atlanta, which is one game behind and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bucs, has +185 odds, while New Orleans is at 120/1.