No one arrives at an NFL game rooting for a tie, but the fans who stayed to the end certainly won't be saying they were bored by Sunday's finish.
After a rough start on offense and defense, the Saints shut out the Jaguars and rallied from 14 points down in the second half, with the game clock expiring in a 17-17 tie. Spencer Rattler, Mason Tipton, Dante Pettis and Jonas Sanker (with a big assist from Rezjohn Wright) were the heroes, you know, as everyone predicted going in (that's sarcasm, if you weren't sure).
Much like last week's column, I'm going to separate the QB battle into a "three-points" segment before getting into the stock watch.
1. Rattler got his moment
Winning a quarterback battle is a lot like winning the Heisman ... the stats are great and to some degree necessary, but there's usually some type of special moment that seals the deal. It's the flashbulb memory that crystallizes the winning performance. If you recall the last QB battle in 2021, it was a pair of long TD passes to Marquez Callaway in a game against ... yep, the Jaguars.
To this point there'd been a lot of ho-hum. There were some nice moments, like Tyler Shough's deep ball to Mason Tipton for a touchdown as he bounced back from a pick-six in the preseason, but a lot of it felt like one-offs. Even Rattler's two scoring drives earlier against the Jaguars felt a bit empty, just more long drives without touchdowns.
Well, in this game Rattler got his moment with the Saints down by 8 with 2:39 to play and needing a 82-yard drive capped off by a 2-point conversion. We see scenarios similar to this set up in practice all the time, and this is one of the most difficult you'll find. Rattler not only got the job done, he did it in style, following up a deep ball to Mason Tipton with a well-placed ball to Dante Pettis as he worked back toward the QB, then spun and found his way into the end zone for the 20-yard score. It was capped off by a Rattler scramble for a 2-point conversion, a similar scenario to last year against Washington where he came up just short on the 2-point try.
Yes, it was against the Jaguars backups and third stringers ... but it was also with the Saints backups and third stringers. Moments like that stand out in a QB battle and it's the type of winning football you really want (and probably need) to see. I don't know if it's what will win the QB battle, but it certainly felt like he stepped back in front at a critical moment.
The final line for Rattler: 18-24, 199 yards, TD, INT ... 19 yards rushing.
2. Shough got let down
There's always some level of balance to offensive line protection. I'm sure if you asked Tyler he'd put it on himself to make a check and get the line where they needed to be and on their assignments. Whatever the case, it didn't happen on the opening drive and a massive opportunity got off to an ugly start with a sack and an 8-yard loss, followed by an intentional grounding where he threw the ball to no one but Cesar Ruiz -- who isn't allowed to catch it. He made sure not to, because if he did, he'd have been the one tagged with the penalty. Third and 30 in the shadow of your own goalposts is a yikes scenario.
It was a tone-setter for an outing that just never seemed to get on track. There were some nice moments, particularly a 28-yard completion to Treyton Welch that set up the only scoring drive of the first half. It's also worth noting that it came on a 1st and 20 after a holding penalty, another good example of the rookie bouncing back from a difficult moment, this one out of his control. Shough had the luxury of playing with Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave in this game (Rattler played with Brandin Cooks and Juwan Johnson last week). It was positive as far as Shaheed was concerned (3 targets, 3 catches, 15 yards). But Olave looked ... let's call it rusty. He did have 2 catches for 12 yards and helped that drive move into field goal range, but he also had a straight drop on a 3rd and 7 that would've extended the drive. It's the type of moment where all you can do is say the quarterback did the right thing, he just got let down. That's been a theme.
Even with the errors around him it's difficult to heap too much praise on a first half that generated 70 net yards of offense. A line of 9-12 passing (75%) is impressive, but six of those completions went for 6 or fewer yards. He did protect the ball and seemed to operate well at the line. His passes were on target, all strong positives. He just strikes me as a guy who is coming along well but needs more time in the oven. That's particularly true if his supporting cast can't be trusted to play mistake-free around him.
3. Tempo, tempo, tempo
I actually like how both guys are operating the offense, but I think this offense could work for Rattler if you let him run it fast. He seems to be at his best when he's able to play in rhythm, particularly once the drive gets rolling with a first down. You won't have to twist Kellen Moore's arm to use tempo and honestly in this game it was only the officials that seemed to slow it down. At this stage I think Rattler has looked a lot better in that part of the offense, which should help him in this conversation. Things just seemed to move a bit slower when Tyler was in the game, but that's also circumstantial as you're going to operate a bit more methodically early in the game.
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STOCK DOWN
First-team OL
I should start by noting that we haven't seen this full group play together yet and the piece that was missing in both games is the most important one (Erik McCoy). The Saints also didn't have Trevor Penning in this game (foot injury). Still, there were three first-rounders on the field and I expected more.
Cesar Ruiz has seemed to have a particularly rough preseason. He also suffered what looked like a pretty painful moment on his final play of the game when Shough was tackled into the back of his legs. Ruiz was slow to get up and went into the tent briefly but stayed on the sidelines. He was likely coming out after that play regardless of the result. Just something to track.
There have been too many penalties and mistakes and there hasn't been much movement, if at all, in the run game. I genuinely do think that McCoy makes a major difference and continuity with the center is important for a guard. A lot more attention is being paid to the left side, and Ruiz is going to have to account for that. Still, he's one of the leaders of that group and you can't expect to have all five pieces every week. The performance simply has to be better for this team to have a chance.
Tackling defense
I don't have any reliable tackling stats in front of me quite yet, but I expect the number of misses to be high. Yes, it was the Saints' second-team defense against the first team offense of the Jags to start the game, and it sure looked like it.
We saw bad angles, misreads. On one play I watched backup running back Tank Bigsby catch a screen on the left side of the field and work all the way back across, with multiple Saints defenders caught flat-footed. It was just an ugly showing. If not for a turf monster tripping Trevor Lawrence and forcing a fumble that the Saints recovered, you'd have probably seen three straight Jags scoring drives to open the game.
Things got cleaned up in the second half, but it wasn't an encouraging showing. Saints need to do better to limit plays on first contact.
Tipton slants
I'm going to have positive Mason Tipton notes below, but despite being the star of the game he was also involved in one of the ugliest moments. To his credit the WR will be the first to tell you he was the one at fault for the interception, and not the quarterback who trusted him to get to the right spot.
"I've just got to run through it, man," Tipton said. "There's no way the DB is supposed to make that play."
When you watch back it's clear what he's referring to. As Tipton works around the first defender he appears to pull up, but Rattler throws to the spot he should've been. It's an RPO call, so the QB doesn't have time to wait. Either the ball comes out fast or you run, because the linemen will be getting downfield after a few ticks. I don't know the issue was contact or confusion on the WR side, but it's really more of a conceptual issue for me ... because Tipton can't be my slant guy. I don't expect that's going to be a big part of his route tree in general, but it just underscores why not having a big-bodied receiver can be problematic. I don't think the Saints actually have a "slant guy."
Those routes really call for a player who can be physical and box out the defender. Even if Tipton does do it on this play he'd have had to make a difficult catch through contact. That's the biggest thing the Saints are lacking in the WR room.
A few more
There was no real pass rush to speak of in this game. The Saints registered just one QB hurry in the game and it was by Jeremiah Martin. One of the position battles I noted going in was at edge rusher and no one really stood out. Again, this was backups, but still. ... Velus Jones Jr. bounced back with some strong runs late in the game, but his punt coverage blunder probably won't be ignored in the special teams meeting room. He pulled an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty when he went out of bounds in coverage and didn't immediately make an attempt to come back in. That's a 15-yard penalty and meant the Jags started a drive at their 34 instead of the 19. That's a massive difference. ... Olave's hands. I thought there were two plays that Olave could've made in this game to extend drive, and you expect your star WR to make them. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that there was some rust as he played in his first game since Week 9 of last year, but he needs to be more reliable for this team to have success.
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STOCK UP
Big-play Tipton
I talked about the bad stuff above, so now let's get to the good Tipton note: He was a star in this game.
Fans weren't out at training camp in Irvine last year to see what we saw, and I'm sure a lot of them thought the media was full of it after we hyped up Mason Tipton only for him to get hurt and miss the entire preseason, then fail to deliver in his opportunities when he got back. We've now seen in two preseason games what we felt was possible back then.
He's just a smooth operator. He can change speeds and separate. He can track the ball well in the air and has good hands to come down with it. He seemed to be in his head a bit too much last year. I didn't get the impression his game speed matched what he was capable of, and that threw a lot of things off for him in the passing game. It looks like things have slowed down for him this time around.
He had 100 yards on 6 catches, but there's also a hidden 45 yards that he draw on a defensive pass interference penalty. He had a clutch grab to extend the final drive on 4th and short, then caught another long pass that set up the touchdown. It also won't be lost on the coaches that he showed up for Rattler today a week after delivering on a 54-yard touchdown from Shough a week ago.
I don't know exactly what Tipton's role will be, but I do know you won't be sneaking a guy onto the practice squad after a performance like that. If he wasn't cemented on the roster before, he is now.
Sanker, Ford & Wright
The Saints got bullied in the first half of this game. They were the bullies in the second half, shutting out the Jaguars and picking off two passes in the process.
I thought a big part of that was Jonas Sanker setting the tone early and often with hard hits. On one play he blew up a screen in the backfield simply by running through the man who was supposed to block him. He's just that type of player, and the Saints need that type of player. Sanker finished the game with five tackles, tied for second on the day along with Ugo Amadi and D'Marco Jackson.
I felt similarly about Jaylan Ford, who has been a tonesetter recently with his speed and physicality. I've talked a lot about how much I like this linebacker room and he's a big part of it. He led the team with 8 tackles last week, and while he only had three today, he did come down with an impressive interception as he sank into a zone and pulled down a ball that Nick Mullens tried to rifle over his head.
But it was Sanker and Rezjohn Wright who combined for the play of the game. Wright was playing outside leverage to protect the sideline with the Jags on the edge of field goal range for normal human kickers (maybe not Cam Little), but was still able to recover on the slant to bat the ball up. Sanker pulled the ball down and took off for a runback that ultimately sealed the tie.
My one criticism is that I'd love for him to be aware of the clock there, and once he gets past the 40 to step out of bounds, understanding that he's probably not going to score a touchdown and doesn't need to for the Saints to win. I actually think there was time left on the clock when he was tackled and the refs just said: Guys, it's preseason, let's go home. It was a cool play so I'll let it go and only note the positives.
I will say again, I do think it's important to highlight's Wright's play. He's low-key had a strong camp and without him there's no interception.
Charlie boy
OK, I get it ... Blake Grupe is the starting kicker, so why am I talking about Charlie Smyth? Well, the guy is still trying to be an NFL kicker and to this point he's never missed in a game.
It was Grupe who got the long attempt (51) in this one, but it was Charlie who knocked in the other two from 23 and 40. It might not sound like much, but the reason the kicking competition never really got off the ground was misses from that range. He also made a kick from 50 yards last week and is 4-for-4 in his career when the games have a real scoreboard.
There were some less-than-perfect kickoffs (he was trying a kind of sideways spinner that didn't seem to confuse anybody), but he's a guy the Saints can stash on the practice squad for another year if he doesn't land a job elsewhere. His performances in these games likely cements that they'll do that. I still think he's got a potentially generational leg and he's an easy guy to root for. He earned the spot here.
HONORABLE MENTION
Quincy Riley got taken advantage of a few times, but he did lead the team with 8 tackles, had a TFL and made a stop on special teams. He'll start the season as a depth DB, but I like the way he's developing. ... Despite not getting a ton of help from the blocking I thought Kendre Miller had some juice today. He just has an ability to squeeze through gaps that don't seem to be there. He looks a bit too casual out there at times, but I think that's just his style. I appreciate that he's made it to this point healthy and I kind of just want to sit him in the preseason finale just to ensure we can get to the regular season that way. ... Clyde Edwards-Helaire has the juice, man. I don't know if he's going to make the roster but he's fun to watch. You could tell from the moment he led the Who Dat chant in the pregame he was ready to truck a dude, and that's what he did to start the second half. I thought his energy set the tone for what was a very strong half on both sides of the ball. ... Khristian Boyd didn't exactly have any 'wow' moments, but those are hard to come by at nose tackle. What he did do was continue to play well enough in that spot that the Saints were willing to move on from Khalen Saunders (they traded him to the Jaguars shortly after the game). To me that's an indicator that Boyd is making the roster, because he's the primary backup to Davon Godchaux. ... For the second consecutive game the Saints leaned heavily on Torricelli Simpkins III. He took all the snaps at center until Kyle Hergel took over late in the game and held up well despite a frustrating holding penalty early in the game. The Saints did add another center (Luke Fortner) in that Saunders trade and I wouldn't be surprised if they keep cross-training the kid. ... Nathan Shepherd didn't play, but that means his stock is up. You don't sit a player in his situation unless he's making the team. ... Vernon Broughton has been disappointingly quiet throughout his rookie offseason, but he did recover a fumble in this game. It was a bit of a gift, but a positive play is a positive play. Hopefully he can build on that.