The New Orleans Saints didn't just lose to the Bucs, they did so in such an ugly fashion that the team saw no alternative: Time to get the rookie QB in there and see what happens.
What happened was more of the same, at least as far as the scoreboard was concerned in a 23-3 loss that feels like a new low in an already low 1-7 start.
So what should we make of it ... and where should things go from here?
Let's break it down in this week's Saints stock watch column, starting with...
━━
STOCK DOWN
1. The Rattler ride
My top storyline going into this game was all about Spencer Rattler's opportunity for a bounceback performance. He didn't have that, and thus is lands in my top spot here.
Rattler had six weeks of being elite at protecting the football. Then he went out to Chicago and that narrative turned on a dime. In all it was six turnovers in six quarters of football before the keys were taken away after one unsuccessful drive to start the third quarter in the loss to the Bucs.
It felt abrupt, but I also can't blame the head coach. For the second straight week poor ball security torpedoed the team's opening drive for a crushing fumble. And a pick-six immediately following an impressive goal-line stand for the defense took every bit of air out of a stadium that finally found something to cheer about. It wasn't all on Rattler, but the past two weeks have made clear just how thin the margins are for this offense operating the way that it is.
Benchings are never fun to watch, and to his credit Rattler handled it as well as you could hope.
"It’s part of the game. I’ve been through adversity before," Rattler said postgame. "I’m going to be a good teammate, have good body language, still be a leader, so I’ve just got to show up to work, keep a smile on my face, keep working and you can only control what you can."
His final numbers were 15-21 for 136 yards, an interception and fumble lost. The rookie Tyler Shough was asked to throw the ball 30 times in relief and went 17-30 for 128 yards and an interception that came when a ball that hit Chris Olave's hands fell into the waiting arms of Antoine Winfield. There were no points after the switch, though there were two drives that found their way deep into Bucs territory. The Saints were down three scores so field goals weren't exactly on the table.
I did think Shough ran the offense well, considering he's gotten zero reps with the 1s since camp. There were a few throws that felt like they could've been hit with more time on task, including a miss on a deep ball to Shaheed where he had a step on the defender.
So what happens next? Kellen Moore wouldn't commit to a QB plan on Sunday and said the decision would be made early in the week. Still, this feels like a situation where you can't just put the toothpaste back in the tube. This team is 1-7 and it needed a "spark," as Moore put it. That'll be just as true next week, and I just don't see a scenario where doing anything but riding things out with the other guy makes the most sense.
That could go terribly, of course. This feels a bit earlier than the team would've likely wanted to turn to the rookie, and getting his first start out in L.A. couldn't have possibly been the ideal plan. Either way, that's what I think has to happen.
So what's next for Rattler? It's tough to say. I do think he's shown enough in his stint as a starter to stick around for a long time in the NFL as a legitimate backup option. There are worse things to be. It's tough, but the signature moment never came. Now it's the other guy's turn. Let's see how it goes.
━━
2. The hands
I mean, just, wow. Where to begin.
I counted at least eight instances of a player having a ball punched out or straight-up dropping a pass. In Olave's case that happened in an instance where the ball was caught for an interception.
Juwan Johnson missed multiple opportunities. Rashid Shaheed had the ball punched out multiple times, once for a fumble and another time for one that was called incomplete but was dangerously close. Alvin Kamara also had a ball knocked out that was narrowly called down. As mentioned above, Rattler had a ball punched out for a fumble on the opening possession.
It just wasn't clean football and makes this offense look like it's headed the wrong direction. The shoddy execution is why it feels a bit unfair for this to be the game that Rattler was benched. Either way, that type of performance is a poor reflection on the players and the coaching. If they don't get these issues fixed, it'll probably cost some people their jobs.
━━
3. The play-calling
This is a catch all and I'll have to go back through the tape to really get an idea of what went wrong, but I really didn't like the offensive approach in this game.
For one thing, 51 pass attempts? Shough got in midway through the third quarter and threw the ball 30 times. Sure, the Saints were trailing, but that only kind of explains the run/pass split. This was a 7-3 game at halftime. When Tyler Shough got in the game the Saints were down 11 points.
In the end Alvin Kamara ran the ball 6 times for 21 yards. Taysom Hill got another 2 carries for 6 yards. Devin Neal didn't get a single carry. Why?
You talk about supporting young quarterbacks, you don't do that by abandoning the run as soon as the running gets hard. That's happened too frequently this season. It just feels like too much of the time the Saints are having their offensive plan dictated to them by the defense.
I don't know, I expect more. Find a way.
━━
A few more
Too many penalties, particularly foolish alignment errors. Jonathan Bullard gave the Bucs a free five yards jumping offside when they were clearly letting the clock wind to the end of the first quarter. Chris Olave had what has to be his third or fourth illegal shift penalty of the season. Trevor Penning had a false start and two holding penalties. Just not a very clean game. ... I felt like the interior OL was getting run over a bit too much. That's to be expected without Erik McCoy and Vita Vea is as tough a matchup as you'll find, but I wasn't a huge fan of what I saw there.
━━
STOCK UP
1. Goal line defense
Teams talk about "defending every blade of grass," but it's rare to see a team actually take that to heart. The Saints certainly did in this game and continued an impressive trend of being a brick wall at the goal line.
There have been multiple instances of impressive performances with only a few inches to spare, but none more impressive than in the first half of this game when the Saints defense stuffed five consecutive Bucs rushing attempts from the 1, the first negated by a penalty. They were a few inches from doing it again in the third quarter, but Sean Tucker was able to fight his way slightly over the line for a touchdown on 4th down.
“Fight," Saints DE Chase Young said when I asked him what the key to winning those downs was.
"I mean, between the 2 yard line, I mean, you’ve just got to fight, just push them back as hard as you can," he continued. "I mean, you know they’re going to run the ball, everyone know they’re going to run the ball, you’ve just got to stop it. I think hats off to our interior D-line … they stood tall.”
The defense definitely showed fight in this game. It'd help if the offense didn't hand over the touchdown anyway with a pick-6, but that's a different conversation.
━━
2. Strong Kool-Aid
When you rely on young players in key spots, things aren't always going to be perfect. Kool-Aid McKinstry has taken his lumps in some matchups this season. It's fair to call them growing pains.
But today? You'd have a hard time finding a Bucs completion that took advantage of Kool-Aid in coverage. Baker Mayfield found most of his success going after rookie Quincy Riley. On that second goal line situation it was Kool-Aid winning twice in 1-on-1 situations, with the only criticism being that he had a chance for a momentum-swinging interception and he couldn't haul it in.
He finished the game with 4 tackles and a pair of passes defensed. The Saints need to figure out their offense, but I think there's a lot to like with this defensive group and the key the rest of the way is continued development of players like Kool-Aid, Riley, Jonas Sanker and Danny Stutsman.
━━
3. Chase Young's impact
Yes, these are all on defense and yes, I already mentioned Chase Young above, but the defense is really the only thing I can be happy about in this game.
Chase finished the game with 4 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 QB hits, a pass defensed, a tackle for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. That's about as complete a stat line as you could have, and it's a good sign that he's hitting his stride after a brutally frustrating start to the year with five games missed.
The forced fumble came at a critical moment late in the first half after a Saints turnover that appeared to set up points for the Bucs, who were already leading 7-0. Instead Chase was able to scoop the ball up, and he even had the awareness to just get down rather than fight for yards and potentially have the ball knocked out. The Saints were able to drive for a field goal before the half.
Those are the type of difference-making moments Chase was paid to provide, and it's what this defense had been lacking without him. Good to see that paying off, because he's going to be here a while.
━━
Honorable mention
I've been critical of Kai Kroeger, so I have to give the punter credit in this one. The net yardage won't stand out, but he pinned multiple punts inside the 15 yard line, including one to the 8. He also had an impressive, 55-yard kick from the Saints' 8 yard line that helped flip the field. Blake Grupe also hit his only FG attempt (48 yards), and Mason Tipton had a 36-yard kick return. Special teams has been brutal for this team, so it was nice to see it deliver in this one. ... Jonas Sanker and Alontae Taylor continue to impress as tacklers. They've been true bright spots for this defense. ... The Saints were 8-16 on third down in this game and converted multiple instances of 3rd and 8 or longer after starting the season 1-for-27 in those situations. Progress.