The New Orleans Saints went on the road again and didn't come back with many happy memories.
Four turnovers (three interceptions and a fumble), 222 rushing yards allowed, u-g-l-y. The Saints are now 1-6 after a 26-14 loss to the Bears. Dennis Allen is giving postgame hype speeches. There are a lot more questions than answers (still).
With all that in mind, here are my stock up and stock down after another frustrating week of Saints football.
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STOCK DOWN
Protecting the ball
Four turnovers. Three interceptions. One fumble.
What’s made Spencer Rattler so easy to back to this point is that, even at his worst, he’s been a net positive in terms of ball security. When you don’t give away possessions, you give yourself chances to win games. The two games where he’s thrown interceptions this season just happen to be the most lopsided games the Saints have played.
It’s certainly not all on him, though the fumble on the Saints’ second offensive play of the game definitely was. I’m all for scrambling, but you have to secure the ball. That play set the tone for the entire game and the offense was flat for virtually the entire first half.
The first interception looked to be thrown behind Mason Tipton. The second interception looked to be an overthrow targeting Rashid Shaheed (though I’ll have to watch back to assess how the receiver handled it). The final interception was a 4th down that the Bears played well and I won’t be critical of.
But it wasn’t only the balls that went for interceptions that are open for criticism. There were at least three or four interception-worthy balls in this game, including one that saw two Bears defenders collide. Either could’ve caught it without the other’s interference.
Kellen Moore said there was no consideration in this game as to potentially making a change at QB, and that’s the right call. Rattler is the guy, and I'd be surprised if we see a change prior to the bye week. But this was the first game where I felt Rattler really provided ammunition for that argument.
He needs to respond in a big way over the next two weeks.
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The run game (and health)
Well, we can start with the injuries. Kellen Moore doesn't typically have much to say after games beyond some variation of we'll find out more soon and let you know. He decided volunteer that "there is some concern" for both center Erik McCoy (biceps) and RB Kendre Miller (knee). The words "some concern" in that context sound a lot more, at least to me, like done for the year.
We'll have to wait and see, but it's usually pretty easy to read on players' faces how severe they believe the injury to be. I'll leave it at that.
Miller's absence would have a clear impact. He was forming an effective tandem with Alvin Kamara as a power back option. They could've used that in this game. McCoy's absence is more difficult to quantify. It's probably felt more in the pass game than the run game because you're losing his mind and communication, along with elite talent. The Saints were struggling mightily to run the ball even with him in there in this game, but there's no question the unit takes a major step back with him off the field.
But even before the injuries the Saints simply couldn't run the ball in this game and it defied what all the stats told you about the Bears coming in. The Saints got zero push against a defense that was allowing the 2nd most average yards in the league this season. They ranked among the worst in the league in yards allowed before contact. Still, the Saints couldn't take advantage. The Saints only ran the ball 17 times in this game and I won't even complain about it. That part of the offense simply wasn't working. One one drive they were stopped dead on a 4th and short run, and later in the game under similar circumstances they decided not to run it at all.
Kamara finished the game with 28 yards on 11 carries. Miller had the long run of the day with 7 yards on his lone attempt. Devin Neal only took one carry for 1 yard, while Taysom Hill had -4 yards on his two rushes, though one was an important third down conversion.
Can't run the ball on offense. Can't stop the run on defense. That's a bad combination.
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Execution
What made this game particularly frustrating wasn’t that it’s the product of a rebuild, it was the product of playing bad football.
Nowhere was that better encapsulated than the trick play that I watched them install during training camp, with Taysom Hill taking a shallow cross and pitching it to Alvin Kamara on the run. The play worked for what would’ve been a massive conversion on 3rd and 20 and possibly swung the momentum toward the Saints for a wild rally. Not so fast, the Bears challenged and it was ruled a forward pass. That’s a penalty. The Saints punted. The game effectively ended there.
Good ideas. Winning potential. Losing results. The Saints always seem to find that play, and in some cases several of them.
I'm sure when I go back and look through the tape I'll find a host of near-miss moments. It's the identity of this team and I'm not expecting it to change any time soon.
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A few more
The run defense. Any time you allow 200-plush rushing yards something went terribly wrong. But I think that was more about a worn-down unit than a scheme issue. The Saints defense spent virtually the entire first half on the field and more than half their rushing total came in the second half. Tackling and angles weren't great, but I actually thought the defense was effective in this game. ... Kai Kroeger has been having a tough time, and that seems to be particularly true on his first punt of the game. This time it was a 31-yarder. … Blake Grupe had another miss in this game. I’m mentioning it here, but I’m not going to by hyper critical of it. I was standing down there on the field and that wind was whipping, so much so that the Saints almost lost their injury tent a few times. Asking any kicker to attempt a 53-yarder in those conditions was nothing more than a failure of the offense.
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STOCK UP
Big-play Olave
Chris Olave was an easy guy to pile on last week after a few critical drops, which continued a trend of his season, but one of my strongly held takes was that I saw a lot of positives, too. He's rounding back into form and a breakout is coming.
We didn't see it completely in this game, but his big-play ability is the only reason the Saints were in it at all. His 58-yard catch late in the first half came out of nowhere and set up his 21-yard touchdown grab a few plays later to get the Saints on the scoreboard. He also added a 14-yard touchdown grab on the opening drive of the second half. All three catches were impressive routes and athletic snags. None were what you'd call routine.
That's the Olave I remember and that's the Olave I know is still in there. The Saints know that, too. That's why they're a lot more likely to sign him to an extension than they are to trade him (the bigger question is the dollar amount and the timing).
Olave confirmed after the game that contract talks have been ongoing, but he's more focused right now on proving why the team should be confident in investing in him long-term.
That's back-to-back games with 90-plus yards and a 50-plus-yard reception. The next step is to keep doing it week in, week out.
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Fast start (defense)
It's easy to forget because of how the game turned out against the Bears, but the Saints defense that's been notorious for slow starts got off to its best start of the season.
After four consecutive weeks of allowing touchdown drives on the opponent's first two possessions, the Saints defense stood tall for a 3 and out on the opening possession. Win. The only problem was that the Saints offense gave it back two plays later and they were forced to return to the field deep in their own territory.
They got the stop again, this time to hold Chicago to a short field goal (probably the best-case scenario in that situation). Quincy Riley came up big with his first career interception on the next series.
Meanwhile the Saints offense started the game with:
- Fumble
- Punt (3 and out)
- missed field goal (53)
- interception
- punt (3 and out)
- TOD
The way this game started is why I have a hard time being too critical of the defense.
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Plaster (third down)
Another positive note for the defense was how they handled third down situations, particularly third and long. The Bears went 3 of 12 on third down, and despite Caleb Williams extending plays for a ridiculous amount of time, those scramble drills rarely resulted in completions. The DBs deserve a lot of credit for how long they covered in those instances.
Since I do this when it's bad, here's how the Saints fared in 3rd and 6 or longer situations in this game:
- 3rd and 10: Williams to DJ Moore +6 (punt)
- 3rd and 17: Williams intercepted by Riley
- 3rd and 9: Williams to Odunze +20 (1D)
- 3rd and 8: Williams incomplete (FG)
- 3rd and 7: Williams to Colston Loveland +9 (1D)
- 3rd and 10: Williams to Zaccheaus +6 (punt)
- 3rd and 6: Williams sacks (Bresee & Young ... punt)
- 3rd and 15: Swift run +4 (FG)
The Saints forced eight of those situations and they got off the field on six of them (75%). If they can get off the field at that rate consistently, more wins will come.
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Honorable mention
Juwan Johnson had an impressive statistical day (5 catches, 79 yards). If not for the missed opportunities early on he’d have been in the main section of this column. Olave made sure we didn’t talk about his drop, and I always appreciate his intent to blow up defenders when he gets the ball with a head of steam. … Devin Neal looks like he’ll have a much bigger role going forward as the counter to Kamara and what makes me comfortable with that is his pass protection ability. Teammates also rave about his intelligence, and that part of his game will definitely be tested in a bigger role. … Quincy Riley got the first interception of his career. Gold star. … I was critical of Alontae Taylor’s tackling early in the season but he’s really come along well in that department. He was laying the wood on people in this game.