Tag: Spencer Rattler

Saints schedule: Calendar change is the good news for New Orleans

Bleacher Report says October sank the Saints’ season. Calendar change is the good news for New Orleans:

We’re at the halfway point of the season. The New Orleans Saints have played 10 games, but other teams with a bye week just hit nine games last week.

Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon has isolated a single stat from every team’s season that defines how their season has transpired. For New Orleans, he used 58-136. That’s the Saints scoring margin in October, a month Gagnon believes ruined the season.

When you go on a seven-game losing streak it’s difficult to just point to one month as a season killer. Seven weeks is nearly two months, and technically, the streak went from the end of September to the beginning of November. October is the only month the Saints didn’t win a game.

He compares that stretch to the other six games of the season. The Saints went 3-3 and had a scoring margin of 169-110. That number is exaggerated by blowout victories to start the season.

The Saints have been in close games, but they lost all of their matchups in October by double digits. Comparatively, every other loss has been by three points or less. No team is happier to move into a new month — and get a fresh start — than they are.

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Drew Brees compares Spencer Rattler to another rookie QB

Drew Brees recently shared his thoughts on Spencer Rattler, who he compared to another rookie quarterback. Brees sees some similarities with Bo Nix:

The Saints haven’t had nearly the success at quarterback to be desired since the retirement of legendary signal-caller Drew Brees, and only ahead of the loss to the Panthers did New Orleans get its starter back.

Before veteran Derek Carr was able to return to the field after missing weeks of action due to injury, the team leaned into rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Brees recently weighed in on Rattler, also comparing him in some ways to Denver quarterback Bo Nix.

“It’s interesting to see the two offenses – the Saints and the Broncos – with Klint Kubiak and Sean Payton,” Brees said in an interview with RG.org.

“I think there’s a lot of similarities between Spencer Rattler and Bo Nix. They’re both really athletic guys. The Saints were under center a lot more. I think that’s how they set up their run game and their play action. Spencer Rattler was on the move so much, throws the ball and runs very well – very similar to Bo. I think where both of those guys will need to make strides – just as any young player – is in the drawback passing game.”

Rattler finished out his most recent appearance, the 26-8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in which he was benched, 12 for 24 passing for 156 yards. While he has had his bright moments, the former Oklahoma and South Carolina quarterback has had a rough go of it in his first year in the NFL.

It will be interesting to watch what the Saints do at backup quarterback moving forward, especially in the event that Carr is to go down again this season, but there’s no question that Rattler was put in a tough situation when he was unexpectedly thrown into the fire like this.

Regardless, the Saints’ main focus right now is on the big picture, and that starts with snapping a seven-game losing streak. New Orleans will attempt to take their first hack at that when the Atlanta Falcons head to to New Orleans next Sunday.

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Derek Carr tempering expectations in return from injury: ‘I am no savior’

Derek Carr is setting expectations ahead of his Week 9 return from an injury: ‘I am here to be a great leader and to be a great teammate’

Derek Carr set expectations ahead of his Week 9 return from an injury. He knows he can’t fix all the New Orleans Saints’ problems on his own, and he downplayed the pressure that comes with a starting quarterback returning amid a six-game losing streak.

“I am no savior. There’s only been one of those and that is not me,” Carr told reporters Wednesday. “I am here to be a great leader, and to be a great teammate, and to do my job to the best of my ability.”

Carr missed the last three games with an oblique muscle injury — an uncommon issue in football that’s typically seen in athletes for other sports. Rather than a pain tolerance challenge, it’s limited Carr’s range of motion and ability to wind up and throw with force. So he’s had to stand by and watch his team go out and compete and lose games without him.

Still, like he said, his return isn’t going to cure everything ailing them. The offensive line needs to hold up in protection. The receivers need to get open. Dennis Allen’s handcrafted defense needs to stop the run and  pressure the opposing quarterback. Their inability to do those things consistently has cost them six games in a row, on top of Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener’s struggles during Carr’s three-game absence.

But getting Carr back should help in some phases. Rattler took some sacks and misfired some throws that Carr would handle better. Erik McCoy’s injury has forced the quarterbacks to make protection adjustments at the line and that’s something an established pro is better prepared for than a rookie. Now, will it make a difference? It ought to, especially against a Carolina Panthers team the Saints beat once already, but you never know. One NFL team can upset another on any given Sunday.

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Spencer Rattler won’t be the Saints’ QB2 in Week 9 vs. Panthers

With Derek Carr returning this week, Jake Haener will be the backup quarterback. Spencer Rattler will go back to being the emergency QB3:

The New Orleans Saints are going back to the way things were as they prepare for the Week 9 showdown against the Carolina Panthers. After getting a slew of players returning from injury a week ago, they’ll get another major piece back on offense.

Derek Carr will return from an oblique injury and take his role as the starting quarterback, and it will cause the rotation to shift again. Dennis Allen announced Jake Haener will be Carr’s backup and Spencer Rattler will be the emergency third quarterback. This is a return to how things were prior to Carr’s injury.

Haener’s role has remained constant throughout the entire season. Whether Carr or Rattler was the starter, Haener was always the number two. There was a question of why Haener either didn’t start or why isn’t Rattler now the backup. Allen declined to share insight on the thought process.

Rattler was benched for Haener in his final start. That could have been the reasoning for the decision. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Haener get the start if Carr has to miss another game this year.

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Mickey Loomis says he’s ‘bullish’ on young Saints quarterbacks

Jake Haener relieved Spencer Rattler vs. the Chargers, but Mickey Loomis remains ‘bullish’ on both of the Saints young quarterbacks:

Despite Jake Haener coming in in relief of Spencer Rattler against the Los Angeles Chargers, Mickey Loomis gave both of the New Orleans Saints’ young quarterbacks a vote of confidence.

Loomis joined the WWL Radio Coaches Show on Tuesday and expressed belief in both players saying, “I’m really bullish on Spencer and Jake both.”

It’d be reckless for Loomis say otherwise, but there is a likely a lot of truth in his statements.

Dennis Allen articulated how close the race for Derek Carr’s backup was coming into the season. Rattler’s struggles shouldn’t have changed that. Missing Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed left Rattler operating with an empty toolbox for multiple games. That doesn’t even begin to account for the protection issues.

Rattler definitely struggled, but asking a fifth round pick to perform well under those conditions in his first starts was a tall task. He didn’t hit the bar, but it would be too early to be out on the rookie.

As for Haener, he looked good in his limited action, so there’s no reason to not be bullish on him. The Saints should view their young quarterbacks similarly to how they did entering the year. These are players with potential but still in need of some refinement.

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The New Orleans Saints are the 2nd-worst team in the NFC

Numbers don’t lie. The Saints’ season can be summed up by two numbers, 2 and 6, but those numbers run deeper than just their record:

They say “numbers don’t lie.” Well, here are a couple of numbers about the New Orleans Saints’ season thus far.

2. The New Orleans Saints have the second worst record in the NFC. The only team with a worse record is the Carolina Panthers. The Saints defeated them in Week 1. Klint Kubiak seemed to revive Alvin Kamara and the run game. Derek Carr was flourishing in a play action dominant system. Maybe they can recapture some magic against the Panthers this upcoming week.

6. The Dennis Allen-led squad has suffered consecutive defeats for a month and a half. Spencer Rattler was at the helm for half of the games and Carr was responsible for the other half. The losses started close, but the Saints have been outclassed since Week 4.

2. This is the amount of wins the Saints have. Nothing to explain here. It’s been so long, that it was nice to reflect on the good times that were cut way too short this year.

6. This is where the Saints are currently drafting prior to Monday night’s game. Staying close to the top-5 should bring lengthy conversations about drafting a first round quarterback and possibly trading up for one.

Things are bad in New Orleans. The offense has been lifeless since Week 2, other than the first half against Atlanta. The energy has been drained from the fan base, and the season can be summed up with two numbers, 2 and 6. Ironically, that’s the Saints record.

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Dennis Allen explains why he made a change at quarterback vs. Chargers

Dennis Allen explains why he made a change at quarterback against the Chargers. He felt Jake Haener ‘did some good things’ in relief of Spencer Rattler:

Dennis Allen said he’d give Spencer Rattler a long leash, and he was good on his word. The New Orleans Saints head coach stood by his rookie quarterback for two and a half games before deciding he’d seen enough. Trailing the Los Angeles Chargers 16-5 midway through the third quarter, Allen benched Rattler and told quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko to warm up second-year backup Jake Haener.

“Look I just felt like we needed to do something to get something going offensively. We weren’t able to move the football. I felt we needed to do something to get some kind of spark,” Allen said after the game.

To that point, Rattler had led the offense for nine possessions, gaining 179 yards on 36 plays and managing just three points (on a 40-yard field goal). After switching to Haener for their last four drives, the offense gained 157 yards on 29 plays. Blake Grupe connected on another field goal (from 43 yards) but missed his third attempt (from 44 yards).

“I thought he did some good things,” Allen said of Haener. “Created a few plays. Took us down and gave us an opportunity to score some points. But ultimately we just have got to play better as a group.”

All told, Rattler completed 12 of his 24 passes for 156 yards, though he took 3 sacks for a loss of 16 yards. Haener went 9-of-17 for 122 yards and also lost 16 yards on a pair of sacks, but he made up for it by scrambling twice for a gain of 10 yards. So while the offense did get a small spark, it wasn’t enough to make a difference.

Allen acknowledged that Rattler had some shortcomings but he wasn’t willing to put all of the blame on the rookie: “I think there was a couple of reads it probably could’ve been better on. And look we certainly didn’t help him with a couple of drops and things of that nature, I think the margin for error right now is small. When we have opportunities to make plays, we have to be able to make the plays.”

Will Haener get another look? Maybe. Derek Carr is likely returning this week against the Carolina Panthers, but if he suffers a setback while recovering from injury the coaches could choose to stick with Haener rather than Rattler. It would be worth starting Haener to get a larger sample size to evaluate later, but at the end of the day the Saints must go with whoever gives them the best chance to win. They’re 2-6. They can’t assume these players and coaches will still be here next year. If this losing streak continues even bigger changes should be expected in the offseason.

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Saints QB Spencer Rattler reacts to being benched: ‘It is what it is’

Spencer Rattler was benched during the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in favor of quarterback Jake Haener. He spoke about the change after the game:

New Orleans Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler was benched during the third quarter in favor of former Fresno State passer Jake Haener during Sunday’s 26-8 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Saints initially chose to roll with Rattler over Haener when starting quarterback Derek Carr went down withy an injury earlier in the season, but they may be rethinking things with the way the rookie has struggled.

The performance he put on in his latest showing was unconvincing, as he went 12-of-24 passing for 155 yards.

In a way, it’s hard to blame Rattler for some of his issues because of how thin the Saints currently are at wide receiver, the way he was thrown into the fire as a rookie without warning and the countless other problems out of his control that the Saints need to remedy.

“I think we were moving the ball at a good rate in the first half and then a little bit in that second half,” Rattler said after the game. “We would go forward and then backward. Forward and backward. So, we all shot ourselves in the foot a little bit just with the little things and the way we played just didn’t win the game.”

Specifically on being benched, Rattler isn’t focused on the decision and it doesn’t seem to be getting to him personally.

“I control the controllables and I’m just a team guy, so I’m going to want us to win either way. So, it is what it is,” Rattler added.

It will be interesting to watch what the Saints do moving forward at quarterback with a matchup against the Carolina Panthers set for Noon CT/1 p.m. ET on Nov. 3 in Charlotte.

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Everything to know from Chargers’ win over Saints

Here’s our recap of the Chargers’ 26-8 win over the Saints.

The Chargers beat the Saints on Sunday afternoon, improving to 4-3.

Here’s our recap of the Week 8 win.

It was over when…

Ladd McConkey scored his second touchdown to extend the Chargers’ lead to 18.

Notable number

According to NextGen Stats, Joe Alt did not allow pressure on any of his 38 pass-blocking snaps against the Saints, tied for the most snaps without pressure allowed by a rookie tackle over the last three seasons.

3 stars of the game

  1. QB Justin Herbert: Herbert had a strong performance against the Cardinals last Monday night and carried that over to this weekend. Herbert finished 20 of 32 passing for 279 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 49 yards on the ground on four rushes, including one for a big 38-yard gain.
  2. WR Ladd McConkey: McConkey has shown flashes this season, but it was only a matter of time until he had a breakout game. That came on Sunday when he caught six passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns, including one for 60 yards.
  3. LB Daiyan Henley: Henley led the team in tackles (11) and had a pass deflection.

Quick hits

  • Herbert engineered a multitude of big plays through the air. On 10+ yard throws, he finished 7 of 11 for 195 yards and two touchdowns, highlighted by McConkey’s 60-yard scoring grab.
  • The Chargers had no problems finding the end zone after failing to score a touchdown since the second quarter of the Week 6 game against the Broncos.
  • Second-half scoring has been a problem this season. The Chargers hadn’t scored a touchdown in the third or fourth quarter since Week 1, but they ended that drought by scoring two in the second half. They were 2-of-3 in the red zone.
  • The offense had its fair share of struggles, however. The Chargers struggled to run the ball against a Saints defense that was bottom of the barrel in that department. They went 3-for-12 on third down. The pass protection was uneven.
  • The Chargers held the Saints to 2-for-14 on third down and prevented them from reaching double digits in scoring. But they still allowed 366 total yards, 117 of which came on the ground. Alvin Kamara had a few explosive plays, a product of Los Angeles’ handful of missed tackles in open space.
  • The Chargers did a much better job of generating pressure. They finished with five sacks and seven quarterback hits.
  • Special teams was sloppy early on. Josh Harris and JK Scott failed to connect on a punt snap, which resulted in a safety. Cameron Dicker also missed an extra point.

What’s next?

The Chargers are back on the road to face the Browns next Sunday, Nov. 3, at 11:00 am PT.

Social media reacts to Chargers’ win over the Saints

Here is how the general population reacted to the Chargers’ win over the Saints, with many heaping praise on Ladd McConkey’s big performance.

The Chargers defeated the Saints on Sunday.

The Bolts are now 4-3.

Here’s how social media reacted to the Week 8 game: