The New Orleans Saints have won back-to-back games. They have a chance to keep that going when they head up to Minnesota this week.
The concept of momentum is elusive and not everyone buys into it. Every week is different. No one has ever won a game in Week 10 based on what they did in Week 9. Still, Alvin Kamara has been a part of multiple teams that found it and rode it to exactly where this year's squad would like to end up.
"I think it’s a thing," Kamara told me this week. "I think the good teams find ways to kind of win multiple games in a row. And I mean, you see year in, year out, the teams that are playing and advancing in January, you look at them and you see they strung games together and they got hot at the right time."
That's certainly been the case for the Saints, who haven't won more than three games in a row in either of the past two seasons and finished narrowly outside of the playoff picture both times. However, go back to the four straight playoff appearances from 2017-'20, and there was one common theme.
WINNING STREAKS
- 2017: 8 straight, Weeks 3-11
- 2018: 10 straight, Weeks 2-12
- 2019: 6 straight, Weeks 3-8
- 2020: 9 straight, Weeks 4-13
The only season with a streak of fewer than 8 games in that stretch was 2019, but the Saints also managed two mini-streaks of three straight from Weeks 11-13 and 15-17.
"We’ve won two in a row. Obviously that’s a good thing. This week is a different week and a different opponent," head coach Dennis Allen said when asked about the concept of momentum. "I think, really, that’s really, honestly, for you guys to determine."
Extended runs of success have proven elusive in Carr's career, but they have defined the two seasons his team reached the postseason. In 2016 he led the Raiders to six straight wins. His team finished 12-4 and went to the postseason, but a broken fibula meant Carr was unable to participate and his team fell to the Texans in the Wild Card round. In 2021 his team got hot at the right time and strung together four straight wins to close out the year and sneak into the postseason before falling to the Bengals in the Wild Card round.
Those are the only two 4-game winning streaks of Carr's career.
"I’ve been in sports my whole life and everyone talks about momentum and everyone can kind of feel it," quarterback Derek Carr said, "but I don’t know how to tangibly put a thing on it."I just believe in the process of weekly preparation and then going out there and cutting it loose and trying to execute the plays so precisely and so perfectly. ... You train that all week and all offseason your whole life and that’s why I think if you get a group of guys doing that, then momentum shows up.”
What would pair well with the momentum of a three-game streak would be a win heading into a bye week. When you can do that, it's a well-enjoyed respite from a grueling NFL season. Going in on a loss? Let's just say it's a long time to stew over a missed opportunity. The Saints got an early dose of that after falling to the Jaguars on Thursday Night Football, then going into what is commonly referred to as a "mini-bye" with an extended layoff.
"That extra time after a loss is always terrible," Carr continued. "You want to go into that with a win. That’s every team in the NFL. You go into your bye week, you want to win. It feels better, everyone is happy, all those things."
In order for the Saints to do that, though, they'll have to end what's currently the longest winning streak in the NFL. The Vikings have won their last four games, and they've done despite being without star wide receiver Justin Jefferson for all four games, and most recently without starting quarterback Kirk Cousins. Minnesota swung a trade for former Cardinals QB Josh Dobbs midway through the week and he entered in Week 9 after an injury to starter Jaren Hall only to lead the Vikings to an improbable win over Atlanta.
The Saints will be giving Dobbs his due attention, but they'll enter as 2.5-point road favorites and looking to take care of business. For Kamara it also doubles as a game against his college quarterback.
"Dude is a competitor who wants to win," Kamara said. "He’s gonna do everything he can to help the team win, so I’m not surprised by what he’s doing.”
