Tag: New Orleans Saints

NFL power rankings roundup: Saints fall further after Week 15 loss

The Saints continue to move further down in the power rankings week by week as they fall to 5-9 on the season with their playoff hopes hanging on by a thread

The New Orleans Saints are back in the loss column after a 20-19 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 15. This puts them at 5-9 on the season with a less than 1% chance of making the playoffs, as they continue to get closer to a good pick rather than competition.

This moves the Saints to 3-2 in the Darren Rizzi era now, and media outlets have begun to see that this is not a perfect team either, moving them back down to where they were prior to the promotion of Rizzi to interim head coach.

With only three games left in the season and an extremely improbable path left to the playoffs, the Saints are in a pretty bad spot overall, and this leaves them near the bottom of many different media outlets’ power rankings entering Week 16. Here’s a look at where they stand in the rankings of multiple media outlets, as well as where they were at this time last week:

High: 21 – Low: 26  – Average: 23.5

The Saints have a few weeks left to go up or down in these rankings, but ultimately I think the most important thing is figuring out if Spencer Rattler is your starting quarterback. After a strong second half showing for him against the Washington Commanders without preparation as the starter, they might as well give him another shot and see how he’s improved.

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Darren Rizzi on trick-play TD: ‘What a great play, what a great pass, what a great call’

Darren Rizzi was impressed with the Saints’ trick-play touchdown: “What a great play, what a great pass, what a great call”

The New Orleans Saints had a very difficult time moving the ball against the Washington Commanders in the first half, and even moreso trying to put points on the board. However, in the second half, they found a spark of life and managed to score on a trick-play touchdown pass. Spencer Rattler threw over to Cedrick Wilson Jr, who flung a high-arcing pass 21 yards to Alvin Kamara for a one-handed touchdown grab.

It was enough to impress interim head coach Darren Rizzi, who praised everyone involved with it — Wilson on the throw, Kamara on the catch, and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak for drawing it up and trying it out at practice last week.

This pass was Wilson’s first since 2021, and interestingly enough, he is actually 6-for-6 on completions for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns to 0 interceptions, worthy of a 158.3 passer efficiency rating (the maximum) and a 99 or above QB rating in every season he has thrown a pass. At the collegiate level, he also was effective, completing 4 of his 5 pass attempts in two seasons for 130 yards and 1 touchdown to 0 interceptions.

He was a strong passer at the high school level, too. Per Nola.com’s Rod Walker, Wilson completed 142 of his 239 pass attempts for 1,973 yards and 22 touchdowns in his senior season. The dual-threat had not seen a ton of opportunities for the Saints this season, but after that throw, he may see the field more often to run some more trick plays every now and then.

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Jake Haener reacts to being benched midway through Sunday’s game

Jake Haener voiced his thoughts on being benched in favor of Spencer Rattler following Sunday’s loss to the Commanders.

Jake Haener was named the starter ahead of the New Orleans Saints’ matchup against the Washington Commanders last week, but he did not make it through the entirety of the contest before being benched. After about two quarters of action, Haener was pulled in favor of former Oklahoma and South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Haener was asked after the 20-19 loss to Washington about his thoughts on the quarterback change made by interim head coach Darren Rizzi.

“Obviously I’m disappointed,” Haener said postgame. “You go out there and you make good play, third play of the game. Gets called back, which is tough.”

Rizzi had said himself that the move was not all on Haener but that he did feel like Rattler’s presence did ignite a spark. And, to be fair, Haener did help engineer a positive play quite early on in the game with a deep lob to Cedrick Wilson Jr., but it was called back due to a penalty.

Haener applauded Rattler for coming in and getting things moving in a better direction for the offense, something that may or may or may not be fully attributed to him when the game film is gone through and broken down.

“I thought Spencer did a great job coming in and handling the moment of the game,” Haener said, “gave us a chance there to win at the end. I was proud of how he handled himself.”

Of course, with the state of the quarterback position in limbo as long as veteran Derek Carr remains sidelined, Haener was asked about the future and what he felt he could have done better in this particular performance after he completed four of his 10 passing attempts for 49 yards with one interception.

“I’ll have to go back and look at the tape. The only thing I can really think of that comes to mind right now is (when I was) trying to force the ball to (Alvin Kamara) when we were down,” Haener said.

Learning from that and not making that mistake again. Overall, I feel like that was my one bad decision. When you go back and look at it, you will probably say the same.”

At the end of the day, Haener sees his own performance for what is was and was not. But he did recognize and applaud the strides that were made for one reason or another when it was Rattler lining up at quarterback instead of him.

“But I didn’t get enough first downs, didn’t move the team, and like I said, Spencer came in and did a great job,” Haener reflected.

Whether or not Rizzi chooses to keep Rattler in front of Haener for the future consistently will be something to keep an eye on.

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Spencer Rattler weighs in on what went wrong during Saints’ two-point try

Spencer Rattler voiced his thoughts on the Saints going for two points, and what went wrong in the pivotal attempt:

Spencer Rattler and the New Orleans Saints did not get the outcome they were after when they faced the Washington Commanders, falling 20-19 at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday afternoon.

One of the biggest talking points after a game that was much more closely contested than it was originally expected to be was the insane way it ended. Rattler and the Saints scored a touchdown with no time remaining to defy the odds in a comeback effort.

But, some may say interim coach Darren Rizzi got a little too greedy there at the end, which would have likely otherwise been termed “playing to win” if things had worked out.

The aggressive effort to go for two points and the win instead of kicking the extra point and sending the game to overtime did not pay off. And, of course it yielded some criticism. That’s how these things go.

Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler, who took over for a benched Jake Haener after roughly two quarters of action, gave his thoughts on the mentality behind going for it all at the end of the game.

“We knew before the drive. We wanted to go down there and win the game. I think that’s the mindset our whole team had,” Rattler told reporters after the game. “I’m proud of the team, nobody flinched that whole game.”

He didn’t have any quibble with it and made clear that this wasn’t a last-minute decision, but rather one that the Saints went into the possession having made up already.

After the Foster Moreau touchdown, Rattler was unable to locate an open target in the end zone, and a fastball to Juwan Johnson fell incomplete when the tight end dropped the ball.

“I thought Juwan got held,” Rattler added, “but there are good players in this league. It is tough to make those plays. I liked the aggression. I liked what we did there.”

Something to watch as the Saints head down the final stretch of the schedule is if they will roll with Rattler permanently until Carr is able to return from injury. Rizzi has not given any clear indication as to who will be taking  snaps for the Saints moving forward.

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Saints’ playoff odds are down to less than 1% after Week 15 loss

According to ESPN’s playoff picture, the Saints have a less than 1% chance of making the playoffs, but they are still technically in the running:

The New Orleans Saints desperately needed a win in Week 15 to keep their playoff hopes not only alive, but feasible. However, the Saints fell to the Washington Commanders on the last play of the game, as they failed to convert a two-point conversion, which led to a 20-19 loss and a now 5-9 record.

This put the Saints in a deep hole that is essentially insurmountable, and while it is statistically possible for them to make the playoffs, it would take scenarios that are well out of their hands in a lot of cases.

According to the updated ESPN model showing the playoff odds for every team, the Saints are the lowest ranked among the still possible teams, with a less than 1% chance of making the playoffs, winning the division, or making the Super Bowl.

The Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and Carolina Panthers were all eliminated from contention this week, leaving the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles among the teams that the Saints are competing with.

The path to the playoffs for the Saints is generally a simple one when it comes down to it, but not particularly favorable. They would need to win out, and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to lose out first and foremost. Additionally, they would need the Atlanta Falcons to lose at minimum two of their next three games, as the tiebreaker between the Saints and Falcons would go the way of the Falcons regardless of outcome from here on out.

If these three things occur, the Saints would make the playoffs at 8-9 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 8-9, as the Saints would win the tiebreaker for divisional record (as they would have to beat Tampa Bay in this three game span regardless) after a tie in the head to head tiebreaker for the season.

So, while this is an extremely improbable scenario, the simplicity of it makes it seem more possible than something like needing four other teams to win or lose specific games like previous seasons. We will see if any of this is still possible after Week 16, as it could all fall apart by then pretty quickly.

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Saints could face adverse weather conditions in their Week 16 matchup

The Saints could be facing some adverse weather conditions in Week 16, as they travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers

The New Orleans Saints do not face much cold weather, being from Louisiana and playing indoors pretty much rules that out for home games and their division is typically in warm locations as well (with the exception of occasional late-season games with the Carolina Panthers).

However, In Week 16 they could be facing cold weather in their matchup, as they travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers. As of right now, the weather predictions from multiple weather outlets place this game well below freezing, with the following being predicted by the respective sources:

  • The Weather Channel: Monday will be a high of 33 degrees, low of 28 degrees with a 24% chance of snow or sleet throughout the day. High chance of snow Thursday as well before freezing temps Friday through Sunday.
  • Google Weather: Monday will be a high of 29 degrees, low of 25 degrees with a 35% chance of precipitation, likely snow.
  • AccuWeather: Monday will be a high of 28 degrees, low of 24 degrees with a 65% chance of precipitation, likely snow.
  • National Weather Service: No direct weather for Monday as of yet, but 6-10 day outlook expects temperature to be near or slightly below average for this time of year.

Ultimately, there is an extremely high chance of this being what is constituted as a “cold-weather game”, meaning it is below 32 degrees at kickoff. According to Stathead Football, the Saints have played 15 such games in their existence, and have a 6-9 record overall in those matchups. However, they are 2-0 in their most recent of these matchups, which were in 2022 against the Cleveland Browns (6 degrees at kickoff, 17-10 victory) and 2010 against the Cincinnati Bengals (32 degrees at kickoff, 34-30 victory).

Of these 15 matchups, two have been at Lambeau Field, the first in 1971 (30 degrees at kickoff, 29-21 victory), and the second was 1976 (31.8 degrees at kickoff, 27-32 loss). This will be the first time however (pending the temperature) that the Saints have ever played a “cold-weather game” on Monday Night Football. Ultimately we will see if they can handle the temperature regardless, and the potential snow, as they get what could be their final primetime game of the 2024 season.

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Should Spencer Rattler start the Saints’ final three games?

The Saints managed to nearly pull off a win behind Spencer Rattler in Week 15’s second half, but should he get the remaining three starts of the season?

The New Orleans Saints had a very interesting quarterback scenario unfold in their Week 15 loss to the Washington Commanders. Jake Haener started things off, getting his first career start in the NFL, and he looked pretty rough for the 21 snaps he got on offense.

He went 4-for-10 on completions for 49 yards with an interception and picked up 7 yards on a scramble, but was sacked 3 times for a loss of 29 yards. This resulted in a 2.3 QB rating and a 16.2 passer efficiency rating. For context, a PER for not completing a single pass would be 39.6.

On the other hand, Spencer Rattler came in at halftime and got 34 snaps, going 10-of-21 for 135 yards and a touchdown, with an 81.0 QBR and an 84.4 passer efficiency rating. On top of that, when looking at the final drive where the Saints scored a touchdown and had a chance to win the game, he was 5-for-6 for 26 yards and a touchdown, 5-for-7 if you want to include the two-point conversion (though that was a strong throw regardless).

So, now the Saints have a decision to make. Do they stick with the guy they went into the game with, and see if he can improve enough to keep the job, or should they give it to the metaphorical hot hand and see if he has improved from his three starts earlier this season. Obviously this is presuming Derek Carr is out for the year, which seems likely as the Saints would prefer to let him heal and be ready for his spring medical evaluation which will determine his guarantees on his contract. If he fails, he would receive the $30 million guaranteed no matter what, which is less than optimal even if they want to stick with him next season.

In my opinion, you have nothing to lose at this point if you are the Saints, so letting Rattler get some more NFL experience is not a bad thing at all. Giving him a chance to prepare over the course of the week to start this game would likely result in an even better outcome. The difficulty is Rattler would be playing an away game at the Green Bay Packers, and if current weather projections are anything to go off of, it will be somewhere between 16 and 23 degrees out with a 6% chance of snow.

That’s asking a lot of anyone, but especially so with Rattler and Haener. But Rattler proved to be the safer option in this game, not taking a sack after it was an issue earlier in the season with him, and not turning the ball over at all. So I would say you go with Rattler this week and just see what he can do with this matchup.

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Darren Rizzi explains Saints’ midgame quarterback switch

Darren Rizzi explained why he chose to bench Jake Haener in favor of Spencer Rattler midway through Sunday’s game:

Darren Rizzi and the New Orleans Saints came up short in Sunday’s 20-19 loss to the Washington Commanders.

They didn’t stick with the same quarterback for the entirety of the affair, either. The team went with former Fresno State signal-caller Jake Haener out of the gate, but that is not who the team stayed with.

The Saints brought in former Oklahoma and South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler near halftime after Haener had completed four of his 10 passing attempts for 49 yards without a touchdown but with a singular interception.

“We did not play the game we wanted to play in the first half. That wasn’t all on the quarterback,” Rizzi said after the game. “I just felt like and the offensive coaches felt like we needed a spark.”

Rattler seems to pretty instantaneously bring a new sense of energy to the New Orleans offense even if it did not fully win the game for the Saints. There was a marked turn of tide though, as New Orleans took it to the house for the first drive of the third quarter with Rattler at the helm.

It came on quite the trick play as Cedric Wilson found star running back Alvin Kamara to the cut the Commanders lead to 17-7.

It will be interesting to see what Rizzi decides to do at quarterback moving forward with Carr once again still sidelined due to a major injury — the second time that has happened this season.

Rattler ended his day by completing 10 of his 21 passing attempts for 135 yards with one passing touchdown.

He hasn’t made it clear who he will opt for, but one thing that does remain clear is that this is still anyone’s game between Rattler and Haener.

Commanders vs. Saints: Best photos from Week 15

A collection of the best photos from Week 15.

The Washington Commanders improved to 9-5 with Sunday’s 20-19 win over the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Jayden Daniels was phenomenal again, completing 25 of 31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns. Daniels also led Washington with 66 rushing yards on 11 attempts.

Other than Terry McLaurin, Daniels didn’t receive a lot of help. He was sacked eight times and dealt with injuries all around him. After Sunday’s performance, Daniels furthered his case for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Despite a furious late comeback attempt, Washington held off the Saints.

Here are some of the best photos from the Week 15 battle between the Commanders and Saints.

Jayden Daniels’ hilarious response to Saints’ failed 2-point conversion attempt

Daniels shares his reaction to the Saints’ two-point play at the end of the game.

The Washington Commanders led the New Orleans Saints 14-0 at halftime of Sunday’s game from the Caesars Superdome. Much of Washington’s offensive success was due to the right arm and legs of rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels.

The Commanders were in cruise control but struggled in the second half. They held on for a 20-19 victory, improving to 9-5 in the process. It almost didn’t happen.

Washington led 20-13 with under two minutes remaining when the Saints drove down the field to either tie or win the game. Unfortunately for the Commanders, the officials didn’t stop the clock with under 10 seconds remaining, allowing New Orleans one more chance at a game-tying touchdown.

The officiating crew’s assist allowed the Saints to score, making it 20-19. Instead of aiming for a tie and overtime, interim coach Darren Rizzi went for the win. However, the pass fell incomplete, and Washington escaped the Big Easy with a much-needed win.

Daniels, who was phenomenal, completed 25 of 31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns while leading the Commanders in rushing with 66 yards.

So, what was Daniels thinking when the Saints went for the two-point conversion and the win?

“S–t, I was just hoping we would win,” Daniels told reporters after the game.

Daniels was every Washington fan at that point. Going from a game that looked like a potential blowout to coming down to the wire was the type of drama the Commanders hoped was behind them.

Daniels took responsibility for the close game, believing he and the offense needed to be better with the details.