Stock up, stock down after Saints-Raiders: A late-game crash

Everything was going right for the New Orleans Saints, and then it wasn't.

The Saints went from an 11-point third quarter lead to a 35-27 loss, and they turned the ball over four times in the process. It was a frustrating combination, because there were certainly things to build on, like a fast start and a run game.

But in the end the Saints land at 1-2, not a wholly surprising result. It's just the route there that's a bit surprising.

With all that in mind, here are the stock up, stock down players after Saints-Raiders.

STOCK DOWN

COMPOSURE

There are a lot of things that can be criticized from this matchup, but I think the item at the top of the list will be simple ... composure.

This became an incredibly frustrating game for a few reasons, but it was also a game of before and after. Before a controversial fumble forced against Tyler Shough, a ton of good things had happened.

After the point? It was almost exclusively bad. And while there won't be any excuses made after the game, Saints head coach Kellen Moore did concede that he, himself, had to be better composed. There were a few bad breaks in this game and I felt like the Saints let it get to them.

It was jarring to see, because this team had been seemingly unflappable in brutally difficult environments. Tyler Shough in particular looked a bit sped up late in the game, when in the past two weeks he'd slowed down. There were instances where it seemed like he held the ball a tick too long. On the interception there appeared to be a running lane, but instead he fired off an ill-advised throw -- it looked like he was hit during the throw, causing it come out wobbly for an interception. But there were also some off-target balls that we haven't been accustomed to seeing. Throws were high over the middle of the field. There was a deep ball that missed Bryce Lance, who had broken free for a potential big play. This is now the second time in three games that Shough has finished with three turnovers, even if these were of the more bizarre variety, and this game didn't feature a bounceback moment.

"We have to respond regardless, so it's a unique battle," Shough said, "but I think for us as an offense I feel like we do a good job of resetting and at the end there, they made a couple more plays, and we have to do a better job of ball security because that was kind of the story of it.”

I do also need to point out that these critiques come after a day where he threw a career-high four touchdown passes. If this game could've been stopped midway through the third quarter, we'd be having legitimate conversations about where Shough should land on the MVP ladder.

There's always good in every game. There are learning experiences. This is an important one for an early-career quarterback and a young roster.

HEALTH

Injuries are piling up fast for this team, less than a month into the season. The Saints were already without WR Jordyn Tyson (hamstring) and LT Kelvin Banks (ankle surgery). DT Bryan Bresee didn't make it through the first day of camp without an ACL tear.

And in this game we saw RB Travis Etienne (hamstring), LB Pete Werner (stinger) and DE Anfernee Jennings (knee). It appeared Werner passed a concussion check and stayed in the game after a big hit, but he didn't return to the field after halftime. Etienne battled a hamstring injury throughout the week and pulled up as he was breaking away on a run to the edge of the field. Jennings had been playing well, but he sure looked dejected as he walked to the locker room with a towel over his head.

All three of those players had been contributing at a high level leading up to their injuries. Jennings had forced a fumble and a key rotation player in Brandon Staley's scheme. Werner is the team's leading tackler and had been excelling at the middle linebacker spot. Etienne had gotten off to a slow start this season, but was hitting his stride with 13 carries for 57 yards (4.4) before the injury.

The Saints have replacement options, but it's early in the season and there are a few too many depth pieces on the field for my liking. There are a lot of uncomfortable parallels to the 2024 season, and the injury scenario is one of them. Hopefully the Saints can fight their way through it this time around.

CONSISTENT TEAMS

A week after an arguably perfect day on special teams, this was anything but.

The Saints had 11 drives in this game, on eight of them they started inside their own 28 yard line. Jayden Price got the bulk of the action with four kick returns and a punt return. Kendre Miller and Jalen Cropper took the other two kickoffs. There wasn't much to write home about, and it made me realize how much value Barion Brown really brings to this team. The return ace missed this week with a hamstring injury.

Daniel Carlson has been incredibly solid for the Saints since signing late in camp, but this game wasn't his best. He had a PAT blocked and the kick did appear to come out low. Later in the half he flubbed again with a kickoff short of the landing zone, gifting the Raiders a drive starting at the 40. Interestingly it was Justin Reid taking the opening kickoff of the second half, but Moore said that was planned with the idea of getting an extra tackler on the coverage team.

Carlson did lock in to make his next three extra points, but the miss had the potential to loom large and would've forced the Saints to go for two if they had driven the field for a touchdown in the final moments.

A few things crashed down to Earth in this game, and special teams was one of them.

Later in the first half

A few more

The offensive line seemed to hold up well with a backup LT in Asim Richards, until it didn't. Shough seemed to be facing near constant pressure down the stretch of this game, a much different story to what we saw in Weeks 1 and 2. ... I don't know exactly what plan the Saints came in with for Brock Bowers, but it didn't work. The star TE had 116 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches. If there was rust, we didn't see it. The Saints seemed reluctant to send another body his way and he made them pay. Most teams don't have a Brock Bowers, but this won't be the Saints' last difficult TE matchup. They'll have to be better. ... Sometimes I wonder whether I'm mad at the refs or if I'm just mad at the state of refereeing, but this game felt bad on both ends. The roughing the passer call against Danny Stutsman for tackling the quarterback. The moving target definition of a QB fumble. The blatant missed hold against Khristian Boyd. Missed pass interference penalties aren't even interesting enough to talk about anymore. This marks a third consecutive game that the refs had to answer for a controversial call after the result. Kellen Moore might be the most even-keeled person on the planet, and the officiating had him palpably mad at his postgame presser. The NFL has a referee problem and it's only getting worse. ... The pass rush has been effective, but at times it seems a bit inconsistent. There were long stretches of this game when Kirk Cousins had far too much time to operate. The Saints have elite production coming from Chase Young, but past that I'm not so sure.

STOCK UP

FAST STARTS

This game didn't end the way anyone hoped, but it'd be easy to forget that the Saints did correct one of their biggest issues ... they scored early in the game.

The Saints entered the day as one of just three NFL teams yet to score in the first quarter. They're no longer on that list. The Saints got the ball first and started 3 and out, but their second drive carried 84 yards on 13 plays, capped off by a Juwan Johnson touchdown and a 6-3 lead to end the first quarter. It was the first time in the Kellen Moore era that the Saints led a game at the end of the first quarter. PROGRESS. Tyler Shough also had a 36-yard run on that possession. I really think either Shough needs to trust his legs a bit more than he seems to currently, or Moore needs to be more aggressive about dialing up QB run plays, even if it's just to keep the defense honest.

The Saints scored a season-high 13 first half points and had themselves set up well. A second-half team kept things close in the first half, that's a winning scenario. The Saints were in complete control of this game until they weren't.

It'd be easy to lose perspective because of how it ended, but the Saints can't throw out the playbook from this one. It worked. Like Tyler Shough said, it's still September football and this team is clearly still dialing things in.

THE TIGHT ENDS

We talked a lot throughout training camp about how we expected to see Tyler Shough utilize his tight ends. Today reached a different level of efficiency in that regard.

When Shough targeted his tight ends in this one, the result was 10-of-10 for 92 yards and FOUR touchdowns. It was such an elite day that I'm not even going to gripe about Juwan's frustrating fumble to end this game (continuing a frustrating career theme). Noah Fant in particular has been a red zone magnet, with three of his eight catches reaching the end zone.

Juwan Johnson has been the more dynamic weapon, and he got in on the act early in this one. Through three games he has 15 cathces for 173 yards and three touchdowns of his own. Despite all the new weapons in this offense, he's still on pace to set new career highs in catches, yards and touchdowns.

CHASE YOUNG

I was one of the lead conductors of the Chase Young hype train last year, only for an ill-timed calf injury to keep him off the field for the first month of the season. It was frustrating to say the least, but he still delivered a career high 10 sacks in just 12 games.

Well, he's fully available this season and he's been, to put it simply, an absolute monster in the pass rush.

Through three games he has 3.5 sacks (it should be 4.5, but I digress). That includes multiple sacks in each of the past two games. His first sack in this game came after he fought through a chip, then was still able to bully the left tackle back into Kirk Cousins' lap. His current pace would put him at 19 sacks over a 17-game season. The Saints franchise record is 17 (Pat Swilling and La'Roi Glover). He's been, by far, the Saints most consistent piece in the pass rush and is the one player in that group who seems capable of torpedoing drives on his own.

My critique for Chase is that I'd like to see him make a bigger impact in the run game. Through three games his tackle number (2) is lower than his sack number (3.5). He's too good of a player to not be finding ball-carriers a bit more frequently than that.

Honorable mention

I don't know whether Khristian Boyd simply had the game of his life, or if he's developed into a very effective interior rusher, but I'm eager to find out. He made a few plays in this game, including a goal line hit on Ashton Jeanty that decleated the former top 10 pick. He also had a clean rush late in the game where he forced a blatant hold that wasn't called. The Saints could use a little extra juice on the interior and I'm eager to see more Boyd. ... Kool-Aid McKinstry had a tough assignment in this game, often pulling the Brock Bowers assignment. He's the Saints best defensive secondary player and he can make plays on the ball without fouling. He's reaching lockdown status. I really would love to see him start taking balls away, too. ... The Travis Etienne injury really is a bummer, and hopefully it's not too significant, because this was by far his best game (13 for 57 yards). That was true for the Saints' run game in general. Etienne went for 57, but the Saints had a career high 148 yards as a team. Alvin Kamara seems to be getting his legs under him. He had 36 yards on nine carries (4.0 yards per carry). It sure looks like we'll be back to the same Kamara and Kendre Miller tandem from last year. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going. ... Anfernee Jennings forced a fumble and Jordan Howden recovered. Gold star. ... The Saints continue to be elite on third downs (9 of 15). The Saints are now 27 of 47 on the season, which marks the 4th best rate in the league (53.19%).