The New Orleans Saints have found a lot of ways to lose this season, and several were on display in a 25-19 defeat against the New England Patriots.
Two early TDs allowed. Too many field goals settled for. Missed opportunities. Not enough pressure. A critical fumble. Still, the Saints had chances and came up just short.
It's a team still trying to learn how to win and, at least as of Week 6, there's clearly still more to learn.
With all that in mind, here are the stock up and stock down players (and some lagniappe) after the Saints' latest frustrating in this ill-fated 2025 season.
━━
STOCK DOWN
Big hands in big moments
There's a good bit of blame to go around for this one, so I'll double up ... because two of the Saints top playmakers came up small in big moments of this game.
We'll start with Juwan Johnson because it's the most glaring: In a moment where the Saints were driving for a potential go-ahead score, Johnson's first down catch over the middle of the field turned into a fumble on review. It was a nice play by Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss to punch the ball out, but Johnson would be the first to tell you he should've had two hands on the ball.
There just haven't been enough impact plays from Juwan to this point in the season. Two catches for 15 yards and a turnover goes squarely in the stock down column.
Next is Chris Olave, and it's odd to complain considering he had a game-high 98 yards on 6 catches, but his day should've been much bigger. There was a miss on what looked like a good ball into the end zone late in the first half. Instead of a touchdown the Saints settled for 3. There was another miss on what was effectively a free play where Olave had his DB beat but couldn't locate the ball on a go route. There was another drop on a ball where he appeared to jump unnecessarily. Instead of a first down on a potential go-ahead drive, it was a miss and the Saints punted a few plays later. They never got the ball back.
There were nice moments, too, including a 53-yard strike on the first play of the game. The problem is the Saints are relying on Olave to deliver as an elite WR1 and to this stage they haven't been able to rely on him delivering in that way consistently. It was made even more glaring by Kayshon Boutte delivering in critical moments on the other side time after time.
━━
Impact defense ... 3rd and long strikes again
I was hopeful that the Saints pass rush would be the story of this game as they fed off the return of Chase Young. Instead the Saints only sacked Drake Maye once, and it was Pete Werner who hauled him down just shy of the line of scrimmage on a scramble.
Maye is playing at an elite level, but the Saints simply didn't affect him enough, particularly in the obvious passing situations.
Here's how the third and long situations played out in the game:
- 3rd & 9: Maye to Boutte for 11 yards, 1st down
- 3rd & 12: Defensive pass interference (Riley), +21, first down
- 3rd & 7: Rhamondre Stevenson right guard for no gain
- 3rd & 11: Maye to Mack Hollins for 16 yards, 1st down
- 3rd & 7: Maye to Hollins for 8 yards, 1st down
- 3rd & 27 (mutliple penalties): Maye incomplete (Hollins)
- 3rd & 13: Maye incomplete (Demario Douglas)
- 3rd & 11: Maye to Boutte for 21 yards, first down
To summarize, the Saints forced 3rd and 7 or longer eight different times in the game and got off the field on three of them. Two of those plays came on the first two drives of the game, with those drives extending and resulting in touchdowns.
It was the 4th consecutive game that the Saints defense has allowed touchdowns on the opponents' first two possessions of the game.
“I think one of our coaches ... jokingly came out and said we might as well just spot them 14 points all the time, because that’s what we do with slow starts," DT Davon Godchaux told me. "Thankfully we got back in the game, just gotta find a way to get better and get off the field. That’s the difference between OK teams and good teams. Good teams find a way to win games like that."
One issue in those situations was contested catches, which the Patriots converted and the Saints did not.
"They made the plays in those contested situations. ... They went and attacked the football and they made some plays when they had to,” head coach Kellen Moore said.
The Saints are relying on several young secondary players, and the learning curve certainly felt like that burned them in this game. Saints DBs were in position to make plays multiple times but the balls were caught anyway.
━━
Punts & coverage
The Saints went into this game last in the NFL in average kickoff return yards allowed, so let's track what happened on the kickoffs in this game:
- Touchback, ball to 35
- Kickoff to 7, return to 31 (24 yards)
- Kickoff to 7, return to 35 (28 yards)
- Kickoff to 4, return to 27 (23 yards)
- Kickoff to 2, return to 29 (27 yards) facemask penalty, ball to 44
- Kickoff to 3, return to 35 (32 yards) ... offensive holding to 20
The Patriots' average starting field position after kickoffs was the 32 yard line. That's just not good enough.
But wait, there's more. Kai Kroeger didn't have to punt until the third quarter of this game, but when he did it was a situation where the ball was snapped from the Patriots' 47-yard line. In a prime opportunity to potentially pin the other team deep and force New England to execute backed up, the kick traveled 23 yards. Twenty-three. The result was worse than simply booming the ball into the end zone.
The next punt was from the Saints' 38 and ended up with a net of 41 yards.
There was some good on the special teams side of things, too, but it's a unit that continues to struggle.
━━
A few more
For the second time this year I was supremely disappointed in the lack of aggression with a chance to steal points before the break. The Saints took over the ball with 25 seconds and three timeouts and looked like they'd be aggressive with Rattler dropping back, but he took a sack and the Saints let the clock run down to halftime. I don't know. It's first down and you've got a timeout to take. Why not take one more shot to potentially get into field goal range? If you get it, fantastic. If you don't and it falls incomplete, run the ball on third down and end the half. If you trust your offense, there's not much downside. Just not a fan of going into the break with three timeouts in a game where the defense hadn't shown an ability to stop the other team. ... The Saints haven't been aggressive at all on 4th downs to this point in the season, which seems a bit odd considering points have been at a premium to this stage.
━━
STOCK UP
Building an OL
The Saints probably didn't run the ball as well as they hoped, but the pass protection in this game seemed effective. There was one ugly moment with a hold on Kelvin Banks that wiped out a big gain inside the 5 to Devaughn Vele, but otherwise it's easy to get excited about this group.
Banks did leave the game briefly with what appeared to be a leg issue, but he returned after a few plays and finished the game. It was the first time this season that the Saints got through a game with all five OL starters, and the growth of that unit is vital for this team.
“It’s positive man. Super-talented group, a super well connected group and we play well together," Cesar Ruiz told me. "It’s just great to have everybody out there together.”
For Ruiz it was an impressive return after what appeared to be a significant ankle injury. Rattler did get sacked twice and the Patriots logged four QB hurries.
━━
Big kick Grupe
There's no sugarcoating it: Blake Grupe was in desperate need of a standout day, and that's what we got in this game.
The Saints again asked their kicker to run onto the field too many times, and he delivered every time. Those kicks were from: 34, 48, 38 and 54. All four kicks were arrow straight and split the uprights. The long kick also came in a critical moment to cut the lead to the final margin of 25-19, but set the stage for a few Saints drives with the chance to take the lead.
That was the kicker the Saints expected to see, and it's why the coaching staff has stood firmly behind him despite early struggles. The five misses don't go away, but 14-19 (72.6%) sounds a lot better than 10-15 (66.7%). Through six weeks Grupe has attempted the most kicks in the NFL. He's tied for second in makes.
What was the most interesting is that the Saints blacked out the video boards on Grupe's kicks this week, a clear change from recent games.
Hey, whatever works. The swagger looks like it's back, but that only lasts until the next miss. Gotta follow that performance up next week (because it sure doesn't seem like the Saints are going to stop asking the guy to kick early and often).
━━
The run defense
We talked about the 3rd and long issues above. Well, one of the reasons the Saints found themselves in so many of those situations was that they stonewalled the run game about as well as we've seen in years.
The Patriots finished the game with 73 yards on 31 attempts (2.3 yards per carry), and 20 of those yards came on one Drake Maye scramble. Rhamondre Stevenson only managed 18 yards on his 13 carries (1.4 YPC) while Treveyon Henderson had 27 yards on his 9 attempts.
All the run defense can do is hold up and force the other team into passing situations. It's on the pass defense to take the baton and finish the possession. That second part hasn't been happening, but I though Davon Godchaux and Co. really did control this game on early downs. Godchaux actually led the Saints in tackles with 7, not something you'll typically say about a nose tackle.
There will be better days ahead for the young secondary group. I know people are tired of hearing that, but it's true. One of the frustrating things about rolling with so many young players is you have to watch the development happen in real time. It will happen. Until then, keep battling in the trenches.
━━
Honorable mention
It's tough to heap too much praise on a QB in a 1-5 start and after another frustrating loss, but Spencer Rattler continues to play winning football. The Saints moved the ball all day and Rattler finished 20-26 for 227 yards and no turnovers. He should've had a touchdown pass (no need to rehash that). It was the second time in his career he had a QB rating over 100. I just can't put the loss on him. I need his teammates to deliver around him. ... Taysom Hill got his TD! I don't know if Taysom is completely back yet. He still doesn't seem to have his trademark explosiveness, but he's still a weapon and the Saints used it perfectly for a touchdown in this game. That was his only carry, though, and I'm curious why such a low workload for him. Have to wonder if the workload last week affected him more than expected. ... Brandin Cooks hasn't gotten a ton of opportunities to this point in the season, but he did have a big 21-yard reception to jumpstart a potential go-ahead drive. Cooks is past the point in his career when he's going to be featured, but he's still got to deliver when he gets his chances. He did that in this one. ... I'll have to go back and watch to determine whether they were good or not, but the Saints started working in LB Danny Stutsman this week in rotational reps, and that's a positive for him. It also feels somewhat ominous for Pete Werner, who could be a potential trade candidate as the deadline approaches. Stutsman had two solo tackles.