Da Boot Sports
1/4/2026
Article Courtesy Of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   The New Orleans Saints were going to win in Week 18, one way or the other.A victory against a hated rival would have been a fifth in a row to close the season. A loss would give the New Orleans Saints a higher first-round draft pick in 2026.

   The rivalry burns hot, as it has since 1967. The New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons entered Sunday’s game in Atlanta with each having won 56 times. The Falcons had not swept the Saints in a season series since 2016 but they have now.

   Atlanta had its key players available. Kirk Cousins has played better than Michael Penix did.

   The Saints did not have many key players available, particularly on offense.

​   The Falcons won and finished their season on a four-game win streak. The Saints lost and saw their four-game win streak come to an end.

​   It was really simple – New Orleans lost because of two turnovers which led to six points, a blocked punt which led to a touchdown and a missed field goal, giving the Falcons a short field which led to another field goal. The Atlanta offense basically earned three points. The rest were late Christmas gifts from the Saints.

         
          Here are my Quick Takes on the 19-17 win Sunday for Atlanta over New Orleans:

**Inactives for the Saints included Ugo Amadi, Bryan Bresee, Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Spencer Rattler, Nathan Shepherd and Xavier Truss
**Charles Granderson and Chase Young forced a three-and-out, combining on a sack of Cousins on the opening series.
**Tyler Shough completed a nice rollout pass, on the money to Juwan Johnson for 19 yards but Johnson fumbled when hit by A.J. Terrell Jr. and it was recovered by Xavier Watts at the New Orleans 39-yard-line.
**Cam Jordan came up with sack No. 10.5 of the season on the next play but the Falcons overcame third-and-15, converting a fourth-and-three situation.
**It was the 132nd career sack for Jordan as he became just the 22nd player in NFL history with seven seasons of at least 10 sacks.
**Granderson came up with a terrific play, intercepting a quick screen pass, intended by Kyle Pitts, at the New Orleans 14-yard-line. It was a great read by Granderson, who displayed very good hands with the first interception of his fine career.
**It was the eighth straight game with a takeaway for Brandon Staley’s defense.
**The Saints went three-and-out, giving Atlanta the ball again.
**Alontae Taylor was penalized for holding, giving Atlanta a first down but the Saints got another stop.
**Nyheim Miller-Hines, for a second time, inexplicably did not field the ensuing punt and it cost New Orleans at least 10 yards, pinning the Saints back to their 11-yard-line.
**Shough missed an open Kevin Austin on a crossing route. Austin was open and the Saints had to punt again.
**Jammie Robinson blocked the next punt by Kai Kroeger, giving Atlanta the ball at the New Orleans 5-yard-line. Robinson came straight up the middle. Two players had pressure up the middle and upback Taysom Hill blocked the other but could not block both. Chris Rumph II was the other in protection but he released into kick coverage.
**Bijan Robinson scored on a 5-yard-run on the next play but Matthew Bergeron was flagged for holding John Ridgeway, negating the score.
**With all day to throw, Cousins found Drake London wide open for a 15-yard touchdown pass to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead with 3:02 to play in the opening quarter. It was a blown coverage by the Saints.
**Johnson made up for his fumble with a terrific one-hand 28-yard catch to the Atlanta 38-yard-line. Johnson became just the second tight end in franchise history to record 75 or more receptions, joining Jimmy Graham in that statistical category. Graham did it four straight years from 2011-14.
**Shough was sacked by Kentavius Street.
**The Saints finished the first quarter with 58 yards on 12 plays while the Falcons had 45 yards on 17 plays.
**Taliese Fuaga, who has had a below average second season, committed a false start to help stop the drive.
**Charlie Smyth came on and missed a 56-yard field goal wide left, giving Atlanta the ball with great field position at its own 47-yard-line.
**The Falcons capitalized as Zane Gonzalez booted a 40-yard field goal to give Atlanta a 10-0 lead with 10:19 to play in the half.
**Kelvin Banks Jr. killed the next drive with a false start and on the next play, he injured his ankle and did not return. Asim Richards had to take over at left tackle.
**Making things worse, Dante Pettis then committed a false start penalty.
**Shough engineered a nice drive, highlighted by completions to Audric Estime for 19 yards and to Pettis for 22 yards.
**A sack by Dee Alford, followed by a holding penalty against Dillon Radunz, pushed New Orleans back but Terrell committed a pass interference penalty against Pettis, giving the Saints a first-and-goal at the Atlanta 4-yard-line.
**Estime ran it twice to the 1-yard-line before Shough play-faked, rolled right and scored to cut the deficit to 10-7 with 4:31 to play in the first half. The drive covered 65 yards in 10 plays, taking 5:48 off the clock.
**Jonah Williams made a nice play for a seven-yard loss, sniffing out a screen pass on the next series.
**The Saints finished the first half with 151 yards to 113 for Atlanta. New Orleans had just 19 yards rushing while the Falcons had just 34 yards rushing.
**New Orleans got the ball at its own 40-yard-line to start the second half but back-to-back sacks of Shough killed the possession as the Saints actually lost two yards on the possession.
**Kirk Cousins hit Drake London with a 37-yard completion on a great throw and catch over Quincy Riley to the New Orleans 34-yard-line, who ran stride-for-stride in coverage. London high-pointed the ball.
**That led to a 51 yard field goal by Gonzalez to give Atlanta a 13-7 lead with 8:50 to play in the third quarter.
**The Saints had a long drive, converting a pair of fourth downs and Shough extended a play and hit Dante Pettis for a touchdown but Pattis was called for offensive pass interference, a critical call, negating the score. Smyth had to kick a 29-yard field goal to make it 13-10 with 2:15 to play in the third quarter. It was a tough call to make and it went against the Saints.
**The drive covered 56 yards in 14 plays, taking 6:35 off the clock.
**Taysom Hill was injured on the drive and went to the locker room with a right shoulder injury.
**Granderson got another sack to stop a long Atlanta drive.
**Gonzalez extended the lead to 16-10 with a 38-yard field goal with 10:43 to play in the game. The drive covered 45 yards in 13 plays, taking 6:32 off the clock.
**Young collected another sack before he sniffed out a screen pass and tackled Robinson for a loss on the next play. Young’s career-best 10th sack came in just his 12th game of the season.
**Dee Alford sealed the deal, picking off a Shough slant pass intended for Pettis and he returned it 59 yards to the New Orleans 27-yard-line. Alford read it all the way. It was the first turnover for Shough in five games.
**Gonzalez put the game away with a 38-yard field goal with 2:52 to play in the game.
**The Saints did lay down and Shough fought back, leading the Saints on a seven play, 65-yard drive, culminating with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Shough to Ronnie Bell to cut the deficit to 19-17 with 1:11 to play in the game.
**Smyth’s ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, clinching the win for Atlanta.

   The Saints lost despite outgaining Atlanta 340-208.

   Shough finished 23 of 35 for 259 yards with a touchdown, rushed three times for 34 yards and a score and had the costly interception. Given the circumstances, he did a solid job.

   As a result, the Carolina Panthers are the NFC South champion for the first time since 2015, ending the four-year run of Tampa Bay as division champion.

   The loss was predictable with so many key players missing and with the loss of other key players in the game.


   It ensured the Saints a higher draft pick, as mentioned.

   Still, it never feels good to lose, particularly to the Falcons.

   Young, Granderson and Jordan were simply superb all afternoon.

​   Young has six tackles, including two for loss with 1.5 sacks.

   Granderson led the team with 10 tackles, including three for loss with 1.5 sacks.

   Jordan had four tackles, including two for loss with a sack.

   A week after he and the Falcons torched the playoff-bound Los Angeles Rams, Robinson was held to 15 carries for 33 yards and to three catches for 10 yards.

   Among the many shortcomings, the Saints have to radically change and improve their kicking game and special teams.

   Smyth is still a huge question mark moving forward.

   Kroeger is below average.

   The return game is a mess.

   Shough is clearly your biggest piece moving forward. He needs help, particularly up front (at least one guard) and with at least one more receiver and a feature running back.

   Staley did an excellent job with the defense and the young players on the back end should only get better.
The 6-11 season was better than the 5-12 finish in 2024.
 
   I picked the Saints to win six games before the season started. They achieved that goal.

   The rebuild has begun. Eight of the nine draft picks form the 2025 NFL draft played and contributed this season, some in very good fashion. The only one who did not, Vernon Broughton, missed the season injured.

   With a mediocre division, another good offseason for New Orleans could catapult this franchise to a division title, though there are many needs to address.
​

Da Boot Sports
12/28/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   It did not start well but it ended well. That applies to the New Orleans Saints in multiple ways.As a result, the 2025 season, regardless of what happens in Atlanta next week, is ending well and the organization is well on the way to turning the corner.

   No, New Orleans is not a good team or a contender yet but they are also not a bad team or bottom feeder.

   The team we knew at 2-10 is a distant memory. The Saints now have their first four-game win streak since 2020.

   For just the third time in franchise history, the Saints have swept the month of December after Sunday’s come from behind 34-26 win at Tennessee.

   For a while, it looked bad for the Saints against a bad team.

   The New Orleans secondary was confused and got embarrassed more than once with receivers running free.

   The Titans built a 13-0 lead and led 20-10 at halftime.

   The very shaky first half performance, outside of one big play by Chase Young, changed in the second half as Brandon Staley’s unite came alive, made adjustments and limited the Titans to just a pair of field goals in the second half.

   The Saints outscored the Titans 24-6 in the second half, including 14-0 in the decisive fourth quarter.

   While Young was outstanding throughout, it was the play of Tyler Shough that stole the day and once again, captured the imagination of every suffering Saints fan anywhere in the country.

   Shough continues to prove he is the real deal, the answer the Saints have been searching for since the departure of Drew Brees.

   He was simply superb and once again, he saved his best for when it mattered most, with the game on the line.

   Shough finished 22 of 27 (81.5%)for a career high 333 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers for an impressive passer rating of 142.7.

   In the second half, Shough was 12 of 16 for 251 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers for a 156.3 passer rating, just short of the perfect 158.3 passer rating.

   In his last three games, all wins, Shough is 78 of 108 for 913 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, completing 72.2 percent of his passes for a 109.8 passer rating. You cannot play much better than that.

   Here is more on the superlatives of Shough.


   Shough’s 142.7 passer rating from today’s win is the best in a game for any rookie passer this year.

   Additionally, Shough is just the third quarterback in franchixe history to throw for 300 or more yards while completing 80 percent of passes with no interceptions, Per Jeff Asher, the only others to do so were Drew Brees (10 times) and Jim Everett (once).

   While Louis Riddick correctly assessed the 26-year old as a great draft pick and future star before he set foot on the field, national media analysts have universally jumped on the bandwagon.

   While Shough was brilliant, Chris Olave was simply outstanding once again. Olave caught eight passes for 119 yards and a touchdown. In his last two games, Olave has averaged nine catches for 134 yards.

   With the eight catches, Olave reached the magical 100 reception mark for the season. He now has 1,163 yards receiving and nine touchdowns, finally establishing himself as a true No. 1 receiver and establishing himself as a top-end receiver in the league. All of those numbers are career highs for Olave.

   The Saints have a club option on Shough for next season and he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2027. It now appears clear that New Orleans will have to re-sign him.

   Juwan Johnson finished with a single game career-best 95 yards receiving on four catches.

   Cam Jordan was credited with a sack and now has 9.5 on the season including seven in his last seven games. Jordan has discovered the fountain of youth. Perhaps we should take a look at the way he was used or misused by last year’s coaching staff. The guy can still play. His contract is up at season’s end and he wants to play more moving forward. Jordan has now sacked 52 different quarterbacks in his illustrious career.

   Demario Davis is still playing at a high level, adding six more tackles today and his contract is up as well.

   Charlie Smyth nailed field goals of 56 and 57-yards, showing off his strong leg, making up for missing a 43-yard effort earlier.


   Back to Shough.

   Cam Ward was the much celebrated, No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Ward came in with three straight games with at least two touchdown passes.

   Shough was the afterthought, the 40th overall pick in the same draft. He was coming off his first 300-yard passing game.

   The two young signal callers have very promising futures.

   The value of the pick of Shough continues to escalate.

   While Ward is a nice player, would you take him over Shough? I think the Saints are in a good, enviable position.

   Good quarterbacks are hard to find.

   The best quarterbacks make those around them better.

   Shough is missing two starting guards (one traded).

   He is missing Devaughn Vele, Mason Tipton and the since traded Rashid Shaheed. He was missing top backup tight end Foster Moreau while third stringer Jack Stoll was hurt on the first offensive snap and did not return.

   He is missing the top three running backs in Alvin Kamara, Kendre Miller and Devin Neal.

   The Saints are at best a make-shift team offensively.

   Drew Brees lifted up his teammates, raising the level of their play as one of the best to ever play the position. Shough is elevating the play of those around him.


   Consider the contribution of Kevin Austin Jr., who caught four passes for 52 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Even rookie Moliki Matavao had his first two catches as a professional for 10 yards.

   Another huge positive was the play of running back Audric Estime, who ran hard throughout, rushing 14 times for 94 yards and a touchdown on a brilliant 32-yard run.

   Aside from secondary breakdowns, Kai Kroeger hit a miserable 17-yard punt, inexcusable in the NFL. He averaged just 32 yards on three punts with a long punt of just 41 yards. As mentioned, Smyth missed a field goal.

   A week after a breakout game, Taysom Hill was no factor at all and the Saints were better served not using him in short yardage situations. Hill rushed three times for no yards.

   The Saints have been terrible in the first quarter all season and were terrible again. New Orleans has been outscored 115-29 in the first quarter this year, an area which Kellen Moore must address in the offseason. Your first 10-15 plays are supposed to be your best stuff in the game plan for a specific opponent. That has clearly not been the case.

   New Orleans had just 44 yards in the quarter, including 38 on the one completion to Austin. Tennessee had 79 yards.

   What we have seen is good coaching as the Saints are simply a much better second half team, a team that makes effective adjustments.

   The Saints (6-10) close out the season at Atlanta next Sunday.

   Before the season began, I picked the Saints to win six games. At 2-10, I looked awfully ignorant.

   Now, I may end up hitting the bulls-eye or even selling this team short.


   Suddenly, the long game for this franchise looks like it will take a shorter amount of time to return to being a winner than we ever could have imagined.

   Merry Christmas, Saints fans as we look forward to what may well turn out to be a happy New Year for this franchise in 2026 if it can have another good offseason as it did in 2025.

​*John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
12/21/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   In a sign of the times, the New Orleans Saints chose to introduce their offense in pre-game ceremonies.Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough’s spot was reserved for the final introduction and drew the loudest applause, normally afforded to the injured Alvin Kamara.

   There is no doubt Shough is the leader of this offense and the beacon of hope for the future of this franchise.

   Wearing gold jerseys and pants, the Saints the Saints were golden on the field and the scoreboard.

   For the first time in his young career, Shough went over 300 yards passing. It would have been an even better day if not for a touchdown pass negated by penalty and two dropped throws.

   Regardless, Shough has proven himself in clear fashion. The quarterback of the present and future for head coach Kellen Moore has been established. Shough, who took a beating throughout the game, snared a fourth win as a starter, the most by any rookie quarterback in the league.

   Not to be forgotten, Brandon Staley has proven to be worth his weight in gold, doing an excellent job coordinating a defense which has simply gotten better as the season has progressed.

   Charlie Smyth has stabilized a very shaky kicking game.

   New Orleans overcame an early turnover and won that battle, forcing two and racking up a season-high six sacks.

    Here are my Quick Takes from the 29-6 win for the Saints over the hapless New York Jets:

   

**Inactives for the Saints were Ugo Amadi, Khristian Boyd, Alvin Kamara, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, Asim Richards, Cesar Ruiz and Rejzohn Wright.
**Will Sherman got the start at right guard in place of Ruiz.
**The Jets won the toss and deferred, giving New Orleans the ball first.
**Taysom Hill got the first carry of the game, gained eight yards, fumbled and Quan’Tez Stiggers recovered at the New Orleans 37-yard-line. It was forced by Malachi Moore.
**The Jets reached the New Orleans 13-yard-line before Demario Davis had a tackle for loss and Jonathan Bullard batted down a pass by Brady Cook.
**That forced a 29-yard field goal by Nick Folk and the Jets took a 3-0 lead with 10:38 to play in the first quarter.
**The Saints mounted a drive which reached the New York 17-yard-line but stalled. Charlie Smyth tied the game at 3-3 with a 35-yard field goal with 6:31 to play in the opening quarter. The drive covered 43 yards in 12 plays.
**Shough hit Chris Olave for 20 yards to start the next New Orleans drive. The rookie then hit Hill for 17 yards to the 25-yard-line.
**The Saints had 96 yards to 55 for the Jets through one quarter.
**Shough was sacked on the first play of the second quarter on a blitz by the Jets with Jamien Sherwood getting the sack.
**Smyth drilled a 49-yard field goal to give New Orleans a 6-3 lead with 14:18 to play in the first half. The drive covered 35 yards in eight plays.
**Alontae Taylor committed an unnecessary personal foul penalty to give the Jets the ball in New Orleans territory on the next New York possession.
**Justin Reid batted down a Cook pass to help get a stop, forcing a 36-yard field goal by Folk to tie the game 6-6 with 12:38 to play in the first half. The drive covered 47 yards in six plays.
**The Saints went for it on fourth-and-one from their own 45-yard-line. They ran Hill under center to run a quarterback sneak and he was stoned for no gain, giving New York the ball at that spot.
**The New Orleans defense stepped up and forced a three-and-out and a punt.
**The Saints used a lot of no-huddle looks in the first half.
**Hill then ran two yards on a fake punt, taking the snap in the up-back position, to maintain a possession for New Orleans.
**Olave got his hands on a good throw by Shough in the end zone but had it knocked away at the last instant. That forced a 36-yard field goal by Smyth to give the Saints a 9-6 lead with 1:31 to play in the first half. The drive covered 73 yards in 15 plays.
**Cam Jordan got his 129th career sack late in the half to surpass Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Rickey Jackson on the all-time sack list, now 17th all-time. It was the 51st quarterback Jordan has sacked in his illustrious career.
**It also marked the ninth season which Jordan has recorded at least eight sacks. The Jets are the 29th NFL team Jordan has a sack against. Only the Ravens and Chiefs have avoided the wrath of Jordan in his career.
**Shough hit Juwan Johnson with a 31-yard completion to the New Orleans 46-yard-line with 27 seconds left. Shough then hit Johnson for 10 yards to the New York 43-yard-line.
**Smyth came on and missed a 61-yard field goal attempt which was well wide left on the final play of the half.
**The Saints dominated the half with 231 yards to only 96 for New York but led just 9-6 at the break. Shough was 21 of 32 for 206 yards in the half.
**Isaiah Stalbird sacked Cook on the first series of the third quarter to force a punt.
**Foster Moreau caught a pass and injured his ankle.
**Shough was sacked on the ensuing possession to force a New Orleans punt.
**Alontae Taylor sacked Cook on a corner blitz to help get a stop on the next Jets possession.
**Davis recorded his 1,600th career tackle in the third quarter. He is one of just three active players with 1,600 tackles.
**Bryan Bresee went down injured on the next play.
**The Saints expanded the lead to 16-6 on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Shough to Olave with 41 seconds left in the third quarter. Olave broke wide open on the play. The drive covered 93 yards in 12 plays.
**Nathan Shepherd came up with a sack and forced a fumble which Chase Young recovered and that set up a 50-yard field goal by Smyth to make it 19-9 with 11:09 to play in the game.
**Jonas Sanker came up with an interception of Cook.
**Shough hit Hill for an 18-yard touchdown but Torriccelli Simpkins was flagged for holding and cost the Saints a score.


**Smyth came on and kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 22-6 with 5:17 to play in the game.
**Chris Rumph came up with the sixth sack for the Saints, a season high.
**Young came up with a sack of Cook, his seventh of the season, to stop the Jets.
**Hill finished off a huge day, lining up at quarterback and he threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Olave with 1:54 to play to make it 29-6.
**Jonah Williams came up with the eighth sack for New Orleans in the final minute.

   Shough finished 32 of 49 for 308 yards and a touchdown. Johnson had eight catches for 89 yards.

   The ageless wonders, Jordan and Davis were terrific.

   Jordan had four tackles, including three for loss and two sacks with two quarterback hits. Davis had eight tackles, including one for loss and batted down a pass.

   The 29 points are a season high for the Saints. New Orleans has scored 20 or more points in three straight games, all victories. Previously, New Orleans had scored 20 or more points just twice in 12 games.

   With a number of key players injured or having been traded or released, Olave and Johnson are the two remaining playmakers.

   Olave had 10 catches for 148 yards and two scores. to put him over 1,000 yards for the season for the third time in his career. Olave joins rare company as just the fifth receiver in franchise history with at least three 1,0000 yards receiving in a single season. The 10 catches match a season high for Olave.


   Marques Colston had 1,000 yards five times, Michael Thomas did it four times while Eric Martin and Joe Horn each did it three times. Colston, Martin and Horn are already in the Saints Hall of Fame.

   Olave also went over 90 catches on the season, becoming just the ninth player in franchise history to record 90 receptions in a season.

   Hill had 17 touches, a career-high for him, and accounted for 116 total yards. He rushed 12 times for 42 yards, completed the touchdown pass for 38 yards and had four catches for 36 yards.

   The brilliant career of Hill now has him over 1,000 yards (1,002) receiving, well over 1,000 yards passing (2,424) and well over 1,000 yards rushing (2,551).

   Today was the best the 25-year old has looked physically in his comeback from a serious knee injury and surgery. Yes, it was the Jets, a lousy team playing an undrafted rookie quarterback. We are keeping things in perspective.

   Still, this is an improving team that has bought into Moore’s leadership and result.

   The confidence is there in a young quarterback along with the young head coach who has groomed him.

   I picked the Saints to win six games before the season began. For a while, that looked like a terrible take on the high side. Now, it looks good and hopefully a tad low.

  New Orleans (5-10) head to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans next Sunday. Despite missing key players, there is a reasonable to good chance that the win streak will continue.

   Fortunes are finally looking up for the black and gold. It was great to see fans celebrating in Caesars Superdome late in the game. Fun is returning to Saints football. “Who Dat” is starting to resonate, at least to a degree, once again.

   I think I will buy something gold for my wife for Christmas. Call it Who Dat inspiration.

Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi

​*John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
12/14/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
​By: Ken Trahan


   We continue to learn more about Tyler Shough and what we are learning is all good.
   The New Orleans Saints rookie starting quarterback is poised, tough, and accurate. He can also extend plays.


Now, Shough has his first game-winning rally as an NFL quarterback.

   With the game on the line, Shough came through not once but twice with point-producing drives in the fourth quarter. Combine that with a defense playing winning football and you have your first win streak, even if it is just two games.

   Loyal fans of the New Orleans Saints have been waiting, starving for something positive to get excited about in the midst of a poor season. Who Dat Nation got that today.

   It came on Saints Hall of Fame Alumni weekend, with as many as 60 former New Orleans players on hand.

   With new inductees Brett Maxie and Tracy Porter honored on the field in a pre-game ceremony, serving as honorary captains and leading the “Who Dat” chant, the current Saints did the former star defensive backs who were part of many winning teams, playoff teams and a Super Bowl championship team.

   The Saints may not be in the playoff chase but they have now beaten NFC South leaders Tampa Bay and Carolina in consecutive weeks and completed a sweep of the Panthers on the season

     Here are my Quick Takes from the New Orleans Saints beating the Carolina Panthers 20-17:
**Inactives for the Saints were Khristian Boyd, Alvin Kamara, Zaire Mitchell-Padon, Justin Reid, Asim Richards, John Ridgeway and Rejzohn Wright
**Carolina won the toss and deferred, giving the Saints the ball first.
**The Saints proceeded to go three-and-out.


**The Panthers took the ball and ran it down the throat of the Saints, driving 74 yards in 13 plays, taking 7:18 off the clock with Rico Dowdle scoring on a 4-yard run to make it 7-0 with 6:39 to play in the opening quarter. The Panthers rushed nine times for 48 yards on the drive.
**New Orleans made a pair of first downs on its next possession and lined up to go for it on fourth-and-four at the Carolina 44-yard-line but Luke Fortner committed a false start, forcing a punt.
**The Panthers had 101 yards to just 26 for the Saints in the first quarter. Carolina had the ball for 10:03 to just 4:57 for New Orleans. The Saints made just one first down in the quarter.
**Sam Martin punted the Saints deep to the New Orleans 5-yard-line to start the second quarter.
**Fortner then committed yet another false start to bury the Saints.
**Tyler Shough hit Devaughn Vele for 15 yards and a first down and on the play, Shough was roughed, giving the Saints the ball at their own 45-yard-line.
**An illegal hands to the face penalty on Bobby Brown gave New Orleans another first down.
**Juwan Johnson then committed a holding penalty, followed by yet another false start penalty, this one by Taliese Fuaga.
**Devin Neal had a nice 15-yard run for a first down to the Carolina 15-yard-line.
**Neal then scored on a 6-yard run on a toss sweep to tie the game 7-7 on a well blocked play with 3:32 to play in the first half. It was a long drive, both in yards and in time elapsed. The drive covered 95 yards in 17 plays, taking 11:22 off the clock.
**Unfortunately, Neal went down with a hamstring injury and missed the rest of the game.
**The drive was the longest of the season in all three categories for the Saints.
**Carolina took a 10-7 lead on a 40-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald with 21 seconds left in the half. Quincy Riley broke up a pass in the end zone with a nice play on a pass attempt from Bryce Young to Tetairoa McMillan.
**The drive covered 51 yards in nine plays, taking 3:11 off the clock.
**The Saints had five penalties for 40 yards in the half.
**Carolina came out and Young hit Xavier Legette for 33 yards to the New Orleans 33-yard-line. Legette was wide open on the play.
**The Panthers finished the drive as Young hit Jalen Coker with a 32-yard touchdown pass on a perfectly thrown ball to extend the lead to 17-7 for Carolina. Riley had coverage and it was good but he lost touch as the last instant with Coker and the throw was right on the money.
**The drive covered 70 yards in eight plays, taking 5:06 off the clock.
**Derrick Brown took a cheap shot at Shough as he was sliding on a run and drew a personal foul. Shough got up and was okay.
**Kelvin Banks drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
**Shough was sacked on consecutive plays to kill a good drive.
**Charlie Smyth came on and kicked a 42-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 17-10 with 1:56 to play in the third quarter. The drive covered 48 yards in 14 plays, taking 7:58 off the clock.
**Each team got a big stop on a fourth-and-one play in the fourth quarter.
**The Saints actually got a field goal from Smyth to cut the deficit to 17-13 but took the points off the board after the Panthers were offside.
**On fourth-and-one, Shough was stopped short of the line to gain. It did not matter. The Saints were flagged for holding, anyway.
**Cesar Ruiz left the game injured, replaced by Torricelli Simpkins.
**After getting a stop with less than five minutes to play, the Saints went fast and Shough completed five straight passes, three to Olave. The fifth cost them again as Banks was penalized yet again for being ineligibly downfield, negating a completion to Mason Tipton to the 3-yard-line.
**Despite the penalty, Shough overcame it with a perfect 12-yard touchdown pass to Olave, who go inside leverage on Jaycee Horn, to tie the game at 17-17 with 2:29 to play in the game. The drive covered 78 yards in seven plays, taking 2:08 off the clock.
**Olave caught four passes for 63 yards on the drive.
**The Saints did it by going fast and by using motion effectively.
**The Saints had a chance for a stop on third-and-10 but allowed Young to run for a first down for 12 yards at the two-minute warning.
**Chase Young then got a big sack of Bryce Young for nine yards. Chase Young then stopped Bryce Young again, short of a first down on a scramble to force a punt.
**Howden committed a holding penalty on the ensuing punt, pushing the Saints back to their 9-yard-line with 57 seconds left.
**Shough then hit Audric Estime for 20 yards on a screen pass and hit Estime for nine yards to the 38-yard-line.
**Kellen Moore then called a quarterback draw with Shough which picked up eight yards and Lathan Ransom speared Shough with another personal foul, giving the Saints the ball at the Carolina 32-yard-line. Shough had to leave the game with six seconds. Left.
**Spencer Rattler came in, threw the ball out of bounds with six seconds left.
**Smyth then calmly drilled his game-winner.


   No, the Saints are nowhere near being a winning team or contender but we are seeing improvement.

   Most of all, what we have seen is clear.

   The Saints are a resilient team.

   With no Kamara, losing Neal and Ruiz, already down Kendre Miller, Erik McCoy and Julian Blackmon and way out of the playoff picture, the Saints continue to play hard for Moore and continue to improve.

   Yes, there are too many pre-snap penalties and holding penalties.

   The Saints have their quarterback, finally. With more talent around him, Shough, who is already solid, has a chance to be a good NFL starter, if not very good. Shough finished 24 of 32 for 272 yards and a touchdown. He rushed eight times for 32 yards.

   Olave had six catches for 85 yards and the score. Vele had five catches for 69 yards.

   Smyth earned his spot, coming through in the clutch.

   Vele continues to show he was worth the trade with Denver.

   Olave came up big when he was needed.

   The defense got two big stops when needed and Chase Young was outstanding with six tackles, including two for loss with a sack.

   While there is a long way to go, there is finally a ray of hope for the future of the New Orleans Saints. That is not an overreaction.

​

​*John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
12/7/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


      It was a rainy day in Tampa Bay, and the conditions deteriorated as the game progressed.Both teams started well offensively, scoring a touchdown on their first possessions.
   
   Then the rain came, and the scoring stopped, at least for a while.

   The Buccaneers were without first-team All-Pro left tackle Tristan Wirfs. Benjamin Chukwuma replaced him. Tampa Bay was also without Mike Evans on the outside.

   Of course, the Saints were without key players as well but had enough make plays which resulted in a winning effort.

   It was a pleasure to watch. A rainy day became a bright light in an otherwise dark season.

       Here are my Quick Takes from the 24-20 win by New Orleans at Tampa Bay:
**Inactives for the Saints were Khristian Boyd, Taliese Fuaga, Alvin Kamara, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, Justin Reid, John Ridgeway and Rejzohn Wright.
**Mason Tipton returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to the Tampa Bay 45-yard-line.
**On the first play from scrimmage, Tyler Shough went deep for Chris Olave and hit his outstretched hands, just a tick long, if at all. Olave appeared to have his jersey tugged, which kept Olave from catching it but there was no flag.
**Undaunted, Shough hit DeVaughn Vele for 16 yards to the 29-yard-line on the next play.
**Shough then connected with Juwan Johnson for 12 yards and a first down to the 14-yard-line.

**Shough then ran an RPO for 11 yards and a first-and-goal at the 3-yard-line.
**Devin Neal then scored on a 3-yard run to give the Saints a 7-0 lead with 12:24 to play in the first quarter. The drive covered 45 yards in six plays.
**It was just the second touchdown of the season in the first quarter for New Orleans.
**Chase Young committed a neutral zone infraction to give Tampa Bay a first down.
**The euphoria of a quick start faded quickly as Tampa Bay drove 67 yards in seven plays with Baker Mayfield hitting Bucky Irving with a 24-yard touchdown pass on a screen pass. Irving scored easily as the Saints were completely out of place on the play.
**It was the 20th straight home game with a touchdown pass for Mayfield.
**Shough was sacked by Vita Vea, who beat Luke Fortner for a seven-yard loss.
**Jonas Sanker came up with an interception on a tipped ball but Quincy Riley was flagged for pass interference on a pass to Sterling Shepard. It was the right call and it was costly.
**Carl Granderson came up with a huge play as Tampa went for it on fourth-and-one at the New Orleans 45-yard-line, tackling Irving for a 7-yard loss.
**Shough hit Foster Moreau for 16 yards to the Tampa Bay 35-yard-line.
**The Saints had 57 yards while the Bucs had 95 in the first quarter.
**Greg Gaines sacked Shough to stop a drive.
**That led to a Charlie Smyth 48-yard field goal attempt and he missed it wide left.
**Shephard committed a personal foul, 15-yard penalty for tripping to hurt the Saints on the next Tampa Bay possession.
**Granderson then hit Irving for a 5-yard loss.
**Shough then threw an interception to Zyon McCollum, who returned it to the New Orleans 40-yard-line. It was total miscommunication. Chris Olave was running a go-pattern, broke it off but Shough anticipated him continuing down the field. No one was there but McCollum.
**That led to a 41-yard field goal by Chase Mclaughlin to give the Buccaneers a 10-7 lead with 9:11 to play in the first half.
**Asim Richards committed a false start penalty then he gave up a sack to Chris Braswell to force a New Orleans punt.
**Demario Davis then got a fourth-and-one stop at the New Orleans 49-yard-line with 2:36 to play in the half.
**Dillon Radunz committed a false start.
**Then Olave committed an illegal shift penalty to negate a completion to him from Shough.
**On fourth-and-one from the Tampa Bay 41-yard-line, Devin Neal was hit for a four-yard loss.
**Granderson batted down a pass and read a screen pass perfectly, forcing Mayfield to throw the ball in the ground.
**Pete Werner deflected a Mayfield pass as well and the Saints got a stop on the final possession of the half.
**The Saints finished the half with just 74 yards to 153 for Tampa Bay.
**Left guard Bredeson went down with a knee injury, leaving the Buccaneers with two backups on the left side of their offensive line.
**On the opening possession of the second half, Alontae Taylor then picked off Mayfield on a ball thrown right to him, and he returned it to the Tampa Bay 47-yard-line. It appeared Cameron Johnson stopped on the route.
**The Saints would take total advantage of the turnover.
**Shough then ran an RPO, faked to Audric Estime, kept it, got a block by Vele on the edge and he raced 34 yards for a score to give the Saints a 14-10 lead with 11:27 to play in the third quarter.
**Jonas Sanker then committed a bad pass interference penalty on Johnson on a deep ball from Mayfield, a 29-yard penalty to the New Orleans 37-yard-line.
**That led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Sean Tucker as Tampa Bay regained the lead 17-14 with 7:37 to play in the third quarter. The drive covered 65 yards in seven plays, including six rushes for 34 yards.
**Neal broke a 20-yard run around the ride end and Richards was able to seal his man to clear the path.
**The Saints had a fourth-and-inches at the Tampa Bay 8-yard-line. Kellen Moore opted to go for it. Inexplicably, Shough lined up in shotgun. Inexplicably, he rolled right. He threw back across his body to Olave for the first down, a good throw, but Cesar Ruiz was six yards downfield and was flagged for being an ineligible receiver.
**Smyth came in and connected on a 30-yard field goal to cap an 11 play, 53-yard drive to tie the game 17-17 with 1:32 to play in the third quarter.
**Cam Jordan then knocked down a screen pass attempt and almost picked it off.
**The Bucs had 238 yards to 178 for the Saints after three quarters.
**It stopped raining, at least briefly, to start the fourth quarter.
**The Saints got another key stop on a fourth-and-two at the New Orleans 46-yard-line with 12:48 to play in the game.
**William Sherman replaced Richards at right tackle after Richards exited with a left ankle injury.
**Shough then evaded two tacklers to avoid a sack and raced 13 yards for a touchdown to put the Saints on top 24-17 with 8:26 to play in the game.
**It marked only the second time this season the Saints have scored three touchdowns in a game.
**The drive covered 53 yards in nine plays.
**Smyth then gave Tampa Bay the ball at the 40-yard-line with an awful kickoff well short of the landing zone.
**Irving then broke a 32-yard run as Chase Young went way up the field and there was a cavernous hole around left end, getting Tampa Bay to the 28-yard-line.
**Michael Davis committed what could have easily been a pass interference call but it was not called and McLaughin nailed a 37-yard field goal with 4:54 to play in the game. The drive covered 41 yards in nine plays.
**The Saints hurt themselves again on the ensuing kickoff as Danny Stutsman was flagged for holding, pinning the Saints back to their 18-yard-line with 4:48 to play in the game.
**Taysom Hill had a second drop on the next series to go along with his fumble.
**Shough came through with 11 and 14-yard completions to Vele for first downs.
**Inexplicably, Moore called a pass play on third-and-11 and it was incomplete for Neal. It was almost picked off and it stopped the clock with 1:54 to play in the game. That cost the Saints 30 or more seconds. It was a terrible decision.
**Sanker then dropped an interception that would have put the game away.
**The Saints got the stop it needed to clinch the win.

   Shough finished 13 of 20 for 144 yards with an interception which was not his fault. He rushed seven times for 54 yards and two scores.

   Neal rushed 19 times for 70 yards and a score. He caught a pass for 14 yards. The Saints rushed for 139 yards.

   New Orleans was gashed for 179 yards rushing by the Buccaneers but the Saints got the big stops they needed as Tampa Bay was just 2-for-7 on fourth down.

   The Saints entered the game averaging 7.3 points per game allowed in second half, best in the NFL. They allowed 10 points today but outscored Tampa Bay in the second half, when they are always better.

   This team is playing hard. They overcame too many penalties, 10 for 82 yards and a couple of shaky coaching decisions.

   Today, the hard work paid off. The Saints won their third game. Young players showed promise.

   Shough is looking more and more like the guy to keep and build around.

   Enjoy the win as we head into Saints Hall of Fame week!

Da Boot Sports
11/30/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   The memory lingers. The New Orleans Saints won Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. It is the memory of a lifetime.
   As it pertains to the 2025 New Orleans Saints and the state of the organization, it is a distant, fading memory.

   These Saints are a poor team, in a total rebuilding mode now. With limited talent, it is a team that cannot afford to play from behind and cannot afford to make mistakes.

   The Saints made mistakes and had to play from behind. They came within a hair of getting even or even winning it late. They did not.

   The losing continues.

   Here are my Quick Takes from the 21-17 victory for Miami over the Saints:
**Inactives for New Orleans were Ugo Amadi, Khristian Boyd, Alvin Kamara Zaire Mitchell-Paden, John Ridgeway III, Barry Wesley and Rejzohn Wright.
**The Saints won the toss and deferred, giving Miami the ball first.
**Justin Reid went down injured on the first play of the game with a knee injury.
**Cam Jordan recorded his 127th sack, getting to Tua Tagovailoa on the opening series. With the sack, Jordan passed Derrick Thomas for 18th all-time in NFL history in sacks.
**It did not matter. The Dolphins went 69 yards in six plays, taking 2:41 off the clock and ran at will against the New Orleans defense with De’Von Achane scoring on a 29-yard run around the right side in untouched fashion. It was simply lousy run defense and Miami led 7-0 with 11:19 to play in the opening quarter.
**Meanwhile, the Saints were completely ineffective offensively, going three-and-out two straight times.
**Jordan then got his 128th sack to stop another possession, tying Rickey Jackson for 17th all-time in NFL history.
**Jordan now has 30 career games with two or more sacks, one of just 21 players in NFL history to accomplish that feat.
**Shough was sacked on the third possession.
**The Dolphins had 132 yards to just 21 for the Saints in the opening quarter.
**In 27 first quarter drives this season, the Saints have scored just one touchdown. New Orleans has been outscored 92-19 in the first quarter.
**Miami increased the lead to 10-0 on a 39-yard field goal by Riley Patterson with 14:09 to play in the first half. The drive covered 69 yards in eight plays.
**The Saints made their initial first down on a run by Evan Hull early in the second quarter.
**Shough was sacked on a blindside sack by Minkah Fitzpatrick as DeVaughn Vele failed to pick up a blitz, Shough fumbled and Zach Seiler recovered for Miami.
**Kool Aid McKinstry intercepted Tagovailoa on the next play on a deep pass to the end zone intended for Jaylen Waddle. It was the 14th interception thrown by Tagovailoa, which leads the NFL. It was the third interception of the season for McKinstry.
**Of course, the Saints went three-and-out again.
**Michael Davis then committed a 15-yard penalty for fair catch interference, giving Dolphins the ball at the Miami 49-yard-line.
**It became 13-0 on a 25-yard field goal by Patterson with 6:07 to play in the half. The drive covered 44 yards in 10 plays.
**Shough made a poor read and was picked off by Rasul Douglas, who returned it to the New Orleans 42-yard-line. It was the fourth interception by Miami this season. Shough was trying to throw to Olave, Douglas was in off coverage, read Shough all the way and easily stepped in front of Olave to intercept it.
**Chase Young hit Achane for a 3-yard loss.
**Patterson nailed a 48-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it 16-0.
**How bad was the Saints offense in the half? New Orleans had 63 yards, five first downs (two by penalty) and two turnovers.
**The Saints came out to start the second half with a no-huddle looks and marched down the field to score to cut the deficit to 16-8 with 10:40 to play in the third quarter.
**Shough hit Chris Olave with a 17-yard touchdown pass and Shough ran in the 2-point conversion to cap a 10 play, 65-yard drive.
**On the touchdown play, Shough extended the play, rolled right and Olave wisely went with him, changing his route and broke open for the score.
**The 65 yards exceeded the total in the entire first half for New Orleans.
**Foster Moreau and Kelvin Banks each committed
false start penalties on the next New Orleans possession.
**Kai Kroeger nailed his best punt of the season, a 54-yard effort to the Miami 4-yard-line.
**Bryan Bresee came up with a sack to stop the next Miami drive.
**Shough was sacked for the fourth time on the next possession as Banks gave it up.
**Achane, whom the Saints passed on in favor of Kendre Miller in the 2023 NFL draft, went over 1,000 yards rushing in the fourth quarter.
**Chase Young came up with his fifth sack of the season to stop a Miami drive but Patterson kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it 19-8 with 9:39 to play in the game to camp a nine play, 38-yard drive.
**Charlie Smyth got his first NFL field goal attempt, drilling it from 56 yards out, to cut the deficit to 19-11 with 6:08 to play in the game. The drive covered 37 yards in 10 plays. The kick had room to spare and would have been good from at least eight to 10 more yards.
**McKinstry made a huge stop on fourth and less than a yard, tackling #31 for a loss as the Saints took over at the New Orleans 44-yard-line with 3:03 to play in the game.
**Taliese Fuaga committed a critical holding penalty.
**Shough then showed what you want to see, remaining poised, making adjustments with line calls, and engineered a touchdown drive. Shough hit Vele with a 17-yard touchdown pass, a beautifully thrown ball, to cut the deficit to 17-15 with 1:17 to play in the game.
**Fuaga then committed his second costly penalty, a false start on the 2-point conversion attempt, putting the ball at the 8-yard-line.
**On the 2-point conversion, Fitzpatrick undercut the route of Vele, was waiting on it, picked it off and returned it 98 yards for two points and a 21-17 lead.
**Smyth then executed a perfect onside kick and Vele recovered it but Vele recovered it nine and a half yards down the field and by rule, it had to travel 10 yards. Upon replay review, the call was upheld, stating the ball touched a Miami player.
**The Saints got the ball with 1:15 to play at their own 44-yard-line.
**Shough went deep for Olave into double coverage, the ball went through his hands on a perfectly placed ball.
**On fourth-and-one, Shough tried to sneak it but was stopped short, clinching the Miami win.

   On that play, Neal was behind Shough and made no effort to come forward and help on a “tush-push” play.

   Shough showed resilience and toughness, rebounding from a tough first half to give his team a chance. There remains a lot to like about his ability. He finished 26 of 38 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

   Vele had a coming out party, showing the reason the Saints dealt a fourth-round pick for him.

   Vele was acquired to be the inside possession receiver and he displayed that in outstanding fashion, catching eight passes for 93 yards and a touchdown. Olave had four catches for 47 yards and a score.

   Part of the problem for the Saints was the absence of any big play. The longest play from scrimmage for New Orleans was 17 yards.

   The New Orleans defense did its job, coming up with four sacks and an interception, despite giving up 22 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown to Achane.

   Tagovailoa was just 12 of 23 for 157 yards and an interception.

   There were encouraging signs. Young was simply outstanding. Demario Davis was his usual dependable, excellent self. McKinstry was outstanding and Terrell Burgess played well.

   Keeping things in perspective, Miami was not very good and with the win, the Dolphins are 5-7.

   Keeping it real, you are simply not going to win in the NFL scoring 17 points very often. The Saints fought back, played hard, and still lost again and are 2-10.

   New Orleans returns to Florida to take on Tampa Bay next Sunday.

   The Jets won their third game of the season. The Titans lost. The Saints would have a top four pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, at this point, battling with the Raiders and Giants, both two-win teams.

   That is something to look forward to.
​   

Da Boot Sports
11/23/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   The question was clear. Could the Saints build momentum from a good performance in a rare win two weeks ago?The Saints were 2-8 while the Falcons had lost five straight games.

   Clearly, these are not good teams. Still, the heated rivalry dating back to 1967 continues as the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons renewed acquaintances Sunday at Caesars Superdome.

   The series could not be more even. Each team had won 56 times in 112 meetings.

   The Falcons had outscored the Saints 2,471 to 2,409. Atlanta was averaging 22 points per game to 21.5 for New Orleans in those matchups.

   The tie is gone, and Atlanta has the lead in the series.

   Despite having a bye week, the Saints looked like a team that took a vacation completely from football. They stunk.

   It was a good feeling with Drew Brees calling the game for Fox Sports and Jimmy Graham in the house as the Legend of the Game for the Saints. The good guys looked sharp in all black. That positivity ended quickly.

   The good guys were bad. Make that very bad.

   The fans from Atlanta were looking for a daily double after the Hawks beat the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on Saturday. They got it as the embarrassment of opposing team’s fans making as much noise as Saints fans continues in this miserable season, just as the Atlanta fans did at Smoothie King Center Saturday.

   Reality bites!

   
​      Here are my Quick Takes from the 24-10 Atlanta win over New Orleans:

**Inactives for the Saints included Ugo Amadi, Khristian Boyd, Audric Estime’, Taliese Fuaga, John Ridgeway III and Rezjohn Wright.
**The Saints won the toss and deferred.
**The Saints forced a 3-and-out as Terrell Burgess broke up a pass on third down by Kirk Cousins, forcing a punt.
**Tyler Shough and Alvin Kamara missed a simple handoff exchange and Dee Alford recovered the fumble at the New Orleans 39-yard-line with 12:52 to play in the opening quarter. It was the third lost fumble for Kamara this season.
**Chase Young sacked Cousins on third down, forcing a 56-yard field goal by Zane Gonzalez to give the Falcons a 3-0 lead with 10:41 to play in the first quarter. It was the fourth sack of the season for Young, who missed
**Mason Tipton returned the ensuing kickoff 75 yards to the Atlanta 16-yard-line.
**Cesar Ruiz gave up a sack after Taysom Hill lost a yard.
**Blake Grupe then missed a 38-yard field goal wide right, continuing his poor season, in stark contrast to Wil Lutz, whom the Saints mistakenly cut in favor of Grupe. Lutz just got a 3-year contract extension. Grupe is very fortunate to have a job. He is now 17 of 24 in field goal attempts on the season.
**The Saints gained five yards and committed a turnover in their first two possessions.
**Cam Jordan came up with a sack to stall the next Atlanta possession after a pair of false starts on the Falcons. It was the 127th of his career. It was his 25th sack in 29 career games against Atlanta.
**Jordan Howden committed a holding penalty on the ensuing punt, pinning the Saints back to the 8-yard-line with 5:02 to play in the first quarter.
**DeVaughn Vele then hurt the Saints with an obvious holding penalty.
**Kamara, who entered the game nursing an ankle injury, limped off after going down awkwardly on a tackle by former Saint Kaden Elliss. It was a knee injury and he did not return.
**Atlanta had 43 yards in the first quarter to 37 for New Orleans.
**The Falcons expanded the lead to 10-0 when Davis Sills burned Alontae Taylor a double-post route for a touchdown pass from Cousins with 11:31 to play in the half. It was the first NFL touchdown for Sills. It was an easy throw and catch. Taylor had outside leverage and Sills went to the post and was simply open for Cousins.
**It was the 289th career touchdown pass for Cousins.
**The New Orleans defense came up with a game-changing play. Justin Reid picked off a tipped pass in intended for Kyle Pitts which Kool Aid McKinstry knocked in the air. Reid returned it 49 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 10-7 with 6:41 to play in the half.
**It was the first interception for Reid with the Saints and the second pick-six of his career.
**It was the first interception return for a touchdown by a Saints player since Oct. 8, 2023 by Tyrann Mathieu, who returned a pick 27 yards for a score in a 34-0 win over New England.

**Isaiah Stalbird came up with a sack to stop a good Atlanta drive. Gonzalez nailed a 41-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 13-7 lead with 1:56 to play in the half.
**The Saints got a drive near the end of the half which stalled because of terrible pass protection again and once again, Grupe missed a 47-yard field goal attempt wide right yet again to make him 17 of 25 on the season.
**The Falcons extended the lead to 16-7 at halftime as Gonzalez nailed a 54-yard field goal on the final play of the half to cap a 26-yard drive in 10 plays.
**Atlanta dominated time of possession at 18:59 to just 11:01 for the Saints in the half.
**New Orleans ran just 27 plays and gained just 95 yards in the half.
**The Saints opened with Taysom Hill in the backfield with Devin Neal to start the second half with a two-tight end set and leaned on the run game effectively.
**New Orleans took the second half kickoff and had a nice drive of 74 yards and reached the Atlanta 1-yard-line and went for it on fourth-and-goal. With Hill at quarterback, his pass attempt was batted down by Ronnie Harrison and the Saints came up empty again.
**The Saints had the ball for 13:02 in the third quarter and ran 24 plays while Atlanta had the ball for just 1:58 and ran just three plays.
**The Saints had another solid drive and once again reached the 1-yard-line.
**Shough reached the half-yard line on a second down quarterback sneak.
**Then, inexplicably, Kellen Moore decided to put Hill in and put him in shotgun. You were at the half-yard-line. Get under center. Sneak it again.
**You had already had high snaps from reserve center Luke Fortner. The snap was high, over the head of Hill. He ran back to field it and intentionally grounded the ball, resulting in a penalty and loss of down. Then again, it was a questionable grounding call as Hill was very close to being outside the tackle box.
**That forced Moore to send Grupe on and he made a 33-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 16-10 with 12:13 to play in the game.
**Once again, the Saints blew a golden opportunity.
**Atlanta did not waste an opportunity. Cousins went deep for Darnell Mooney, who whipped McKinstry for a 49-yard touchdown. Bijan Robinson ran the two-point conversion in to make it 24-10 with 11:04 to play in the game.
**Cousins tied Johnny Unitas with his 290th career touchdown pass.
**Dante Pettis made his first catch as a Saint late in the fourth quarter but he came up a yard short of a first down on a fourth-and-15 play.
**Fittingly, Xavier Watts picked off Shough on the final offensive play for the Saints as Shough simply threw a Hail Mary into double coverage.

   The euphoria of a good performance in a win at Carolina disappeared very quickly.

   The Saints are a bad football team.


   New Orleans had the ball four times inside the Atlanta 30-yard-line and scored a total of three points off those possessions.

   This game was not an indictment of Shough at all. He was not the problem, just as Spencer Rattler was not the problem when he started.

   Shough finished 30 of 43 for 243 yards with the interception. There were two drops. Chris Olave had nine catches for 70 yards.

   The offensive line is not good enough. Cesar Ruiz was awful and Fortner could not execute shotgun snaps. Backup linemen looked the part of backup linemen, including Dillon Radunz and Asim Richards. The team could not even execute a simple handoff, resulting in a turnover. No one could make a yard at the goal line on more than one occasion.

   New Orleans has few playmakers, nowhere near enough.

   Other than that, things are fine with this offense, which has not scored all season.

   The reeling Falcons had lost five straight games and were without their starting quarterback and top receiver. Their defense had played poorly, among the worst in the NFL during the losing streak, giving up over 500 yards each in their last two losses.

   Somehow, Las Vegas established the Saints as a slight favorite. The Saints were the cure for everything that plagued the Falcons.

   It had to be tough for Brees watching this, considering the way he dominated the Falcons when with the Saints. Perhaps Drew will be blessed with other assignments the rest of the season, sparing of him of watching the shell of his former organization.


   The Saints head to Miami next week.

   It is back to playing the “how high of a draft pick” game for Saints fans.

​*John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
11/9/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   Despite being thumped in Los Angeles by a Super Bowl contender, New Orleans Saints quarterback Shough showed positive, encouraging signs against the Rams.
   In his second NFL start Sunday at Charlotte, that carried over in a huge way. Shough was superb.

   The New Orleans defense was outstanding.

   Were the Panthers, who came in with a winning record, overlooking the Saints? Carolina was underwhelming. The Saints were overwhelmingly better.

   The final score did not indicate how much better the Saints were. As a 5.5 point underdog, the Saints won by 10 points. That says enough about what was a beautiful afternoon in Charlotte and a beautiful afternoon in New Orleans.

   Here are my Quick Takes from the 17-7 win for New Orleans at Carolina:
**Inactives for the Saints were Ugo Amadi, Khristian Boyd, Taliese Fuaga, John Ridgeway III, Jack Stoll and Rejzohn Wright.
**The Saints won the toss and deferred, giving Carolina the ball first.
**Bryan Bresee committed an offside penalty to extend the drive for the Panthers.
**Bullard batted down a Bryce Young pass.
**Demario Davis intercepted a pass but Justin Reid, who has done little all season, committed a roughing the passer penalty for a high hit on Young.
**That allowed Rico Dowdle to finish the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to give Carolina a 7-0 lead with 7:59 to play in the first quarter.
**The drive covered 67 yards in 12 plays, taking 7:01 off the clock.
**The Saints went 3-and-out, including a sack of Shough.
**Shough, under extreme pressure, made three players miss stepped up on the move and hit Juwan Johnson for 52 yards. It was a brilliant play and a career long catch for Johnson.
**Devin Neal ran for 14 yards on the next play, his longest play of the season.
**Shough hit Foster Moreau for a first-and-goal to the 2-yard-line but the Saints offensive line failed miserably. Alvin Kamara lost a yard, Taysom Hill gained a half yard and Shough, unable to find anyone, extended a play but had to throw it away on third down.
**That resulted in a 20-yard field goal by Blake Grupe to make it 7-3 with 2:52 to play in the first quarter. The drive covered 72 yards in 10 plays, taking 5:07 off the clock.
**Davis batted down a pass to force a Carolina punt on its second possession.
**On his 300th career punt, Sam Martin punted down to the New Orleans 2-yard-line with a brilliant 51-yard punt.
**The Saints went 3-and-out as Shough had to throw the ball away to avoid a safety with an unblocked blitzer in his face.
**The first quarter ended with New Orleans totaling 85 yards to 66 for Carolina.
**Nate Shepherd beat his man inside for a sack to stop the next Carolina possession.
**Shough then made a perfect deep throw to Chris Olave over Jaycee Horn for a 62-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 10-7 lead with 9:21 to play in the half.
**It was the second longest touchdown pass by a rookie in franchise history, trailing only Archie Manning’s 63-yard touchdown pass to Danny Abramowicz in 1971.
**Martin again punted the Saints deep, to the New Orleans 8-yard-line with 7:43 to play in the half.
**Olave limped off early in the second quarter with an ankle issue but he was able to return.
**Shough hit Kamara with a swing pass and Kamara ran 26 yards for a first down.
**The drive stalled when Hill dropped a third down pass. It was slightly behind him but should have been caught.
**Cam Jordan added to his franchise best sack total on the next possession. It was his 125th career sack.
**A lousy punt return, compounded by a penalty on the ensuing punt, pinned the Saints back to their own 16-yard-line.
**Inexplicably, the Saints had a drive, let the clock run off 10 or 15 seconds and tried to run inside on a third-and-four play from the Carolina 41-yard-line. Kamara made a yard.
**Then, they took a timeout out in a dead ball situation and decided to go for it with 27 seconds left in the half.
**Luke Fortner committed a snap infraction, costing New Orleans five yards and were forced to punt.
**The clock management was poor and once again, a costly penalty cost the Saints a shot at points.
**New Orleans finished the half with 136 yards to only 83 for Carolina. Shough was 11 of 18 for 194 yards and a touchdown.
**It was only the second time the Saints have led at halftime this season. The other time was the lone win over the Giants.
**Shough ran for a first down on a third down conversion play but Dillon Radunz was flagged for holding, killing the opening possession of the second half.
**Kai Kroeger punted well, resulting in a fair catch at the Carolina 10-yard-line.
**Demario Davis reached 500 tackles for his career in the game.
**The Saints blocked a 47-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Fitzgerald and it was Shepherd who came through to get a hand on it. It was simply a low kick by Fitzgerald.
**Unbelievably, the ball caromed forward past the line-of-scrimmage. By rule it is a live ball and Carolina recovered after Jordan had a chance to do so and did not. Damien Lewis of LSU did for the Panthers.
**Jimmy Horn Jr. then fumbled a handoff on a speed sweep and Pete Werner recovered at the New Orleans 17-yard-line with 4:30 left in the third quarter. It was justice, to a degree. It was seventh fumble recovery of the season for New Orleans.
**Kamara ran for 16 yards and a first down through a big hole. He was tripped up or he may have scored.
**On a fourth-and-one near midfield, Kellen Moore elected to go for it and Kamara squirted forward with a good effort, showing good balance, to get the first down.
**On fourth-and-four at the Carolina 33-yard-line, Moore elected to go for it, passing on a 50-yard field goal attempt. Shough, under pressure, was sacked as Scourton beat Asim Richards.
**Alontae Taylor then picked off Young, who was trying to throw an outside route to Tetairoa McMillan at the Carolina 43-yard-line.
**Zaire Mitchell-Paden made his first reception as a Saint, a first-down completion from Shough, for 15 yards.
**Shough did it again, extending a play, rolling left and finding Johnson wide open for a 30-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 17-7 lead with 10:20 to play in the game. Jaycee Horn fell down on the play, leaving Johnson open. That is what can happen when you extend plays.
**The Saints got a stop but again committed a crucial penalty as Davis was flagged for roughing Young after an incomplete pass. It was a questionable call at best. Davis barely contacted Young but got a hand near his neck area.
**New Orleans still got the stop as Carolina went for it on fourth-and-two at the New Orleans 42-yard-line but Carl Granderson got a big stop to give the Saints the ball with 7:35 to play.
**The Saints rushed for 100 yards for the first time since week four at Buffalo.
**Hill closed it out by running the offense for a pair of first downs.

   There were so many positives.

   Shough was simply outstanding. It is easy to see what Moore and Doug Nussmeier saw in drafting him at No. 40 overall. The poise is most impressive but his ability to climb the pocket, extend plays and his big arm are undeniable. With all due respect to Spencer Rattler, Shough is different.

   Shough completed 19 of 27 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers for a Quarterback Rating of 128.9.

   Shough is the first Saints rookie quarterback to win a game since Dave Wilson in 1981. He also set a franchise rookie record for passing yards with 282. 

   Kamara turned back the clock, rushing 22 times for 83 yards and he caught three passes for 34 yards.

   Olave, with Rashid Shaheed gone, was a big play receiver that the Saints need. Johnson came up with two big plays and had no drops.

   Hill closed the game out, leading his team to a pair of first downs, running hard downhill.

   A week after having the lowest time of possession in franchise history, the Saints kept the ball for 33:21 to just 26:39 for Carolina.

   The Saints amassed 388 total yards, running the ball 37 times and passing just 28 times.

   The New Orleans defense was simply outstanding. Davis was terrific, despite the roughing the passer penalty.

   Werner and Taylor came up with turnovers.

   The Saints held Rico Dowdle in check, with 18 carries for 53 yards and a score.

   Carolina would not have scored a point were it not for the roughing the passer penalty on Reid early in the game. The Saints held the Panthers to just 175 yards.

   The Saints, for a change, did not hurt themselves in the kicking game.

   It was a good day in Charlotte and elsewhere for suffering Saints fans, who have sat through a miserable season, to date.

   No one is miserable in New Orleans today, not the fans, not the coaches who prepared the team well and not the players, who played very well.

   Yes, the Saints left points on the field.

   No, Carolina is not an elite team and Young is nowhere near a very good NFL quarterback. I’ll take Shough over him right now.

   Still, it is a win, the second of the season and the losing streak is over.

   Feel good today. You deserve it.

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
11/4/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: CCS Staff


   Hours before the NFL’s trade deadline, the New Orleans Saints have traded wide receiver Rashid Shaheed to the Seattle Seahawks.
   
   While neither team has confirmed the deal, multiple national outlets reported the move, along with the return: the Seahawks will send New Orleans fourth- and fifth-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.

   Shaheed had 44 receptions for 499 yards and two touchdowns this season, including a 87-yard TD catch from Spencer Rattler in the Saints’ lone win of 2025 against the New York Giants.

   Shaheed, an All-Pro return specialist in 2023, caught 138 passes in his four-year career in New Orleans for an average of 14.9 yards per reception.

   He averaged 12.6 yards on 64 punt returns, including a pair of touchdowns, and 23.2 yards on 39 kickoff returns.

   In 42 games as a Saint, Shaheed accounted for 3,891 all-purpose yards, an average of just above 90 yards per game.

   Though Shaheed will be a free agent after this season, he has over-delivered on a two-year, $6.185 million contract signed before the 2024 season, giving him value in the trade market.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   *In other Saints trade news, the Saints have traded starting left guard Trevor Penning to the Los Angeles Chargers for a 2027 sixth round pick.

Da Boot Sports
11/2/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   It was predictable result betweeb two franchises heading in different directions.
   Sunday game at SoFi Stadium was also first NFL start for rookie Tyler Shough. You had the feeling it would be a baptism under fire, considering the plight of the New Orleans Saints and the quality of the opponent.

   The Rams were more than a two-touchdown favorite, a much better team. How bad was the New Orleans offense? On five first half possessions, the Saints went three-and-out four times.

   Watching the Rams operate under Sean McVay and Matt Stafford reminded me of how the Saints operated under Sean Payton and Drew Brees. Stafford now has nine touchdown passes in his last two games.

   While Shough did some nice things, it really doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for the Saints. The talent around the quarterback is simply not good enough in any spot. It is hard to accomplish much with just 40 offensive snaps in 60 minutes.

   For perspective, the Rams had 77 snaps.

   It doesn’t matter, either, with the lack of defensive talent overall for New Orleans.

   The Saints remain in a solid position to get the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2026.

   We are trying to grab at straws to find something encouraging here.

   Here are my Quick Takes from the 34-10 loss to the Rams:

**Inactives for the Saints included Ugo Amadi, Khristian Boyd, Zaire Mitchell-Paden, John Ridgeway III, Xavier Truss and Rejzohn Wright.
**The Saints won the toss and elected to receive.
**New Orleans proceeded to run Alvin Kamara twice for three yards. Then, Shough completed a pass to Rashid Shaheed for six yards, a yard short of the first down. That route had to run a yard or two further up the field. The Saints had to punt.
**The Rams started at their own 12-yard-line, went with a no-huddle attack and Matthew Stafford completed eight straight passes for 72 yards and Los Angeles finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Tyler Higbee as the Rams took a 7-0 lead with 6:18 to play in the opening quarter. It was easy, way too easy.
**The Saints went three-and-out again on their second possession as Cesar Ruiz gave up a sack.
**Bryan Bresee forced a three-and-out by tipping a pass on the next Los Angeles possession.
**The Saints went three-and-out again.
**Alontae Taylor laid the wood on a huge hit on the next Los Angeles possession before Chase Young sacked Stafford.
**The Rams finished the first quarter with 104 yards to just 12 yards for the Saints.
**The Rams went for a fourth-and-three and Kool Aid McKinstry committed a pass interference penalty on Puka Nacua to sustain the drive for Los Angeles.
**Taylor then committed a defensive holding penalty and the Rams finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Davante Adams, who beat Taylor on a quick slant to give Los Angeles a 13-0 lead with 11:28 to play in the half. The drive covered 88 yards in 12 plays. The extra point attempt was missed wide left.
**Taysom Hill lined up at quarterback, ran right and bolted 27 yards to the Los Angeles 36-yard-line. On the play, Ruiz was injured and walked off. He was replaced by Dillon Radunz for a couple of plays before Ruiz returned.
**The 27-yard run by Hill was the first run of 20 or more yards by the porous New Orleans run game this season.
**Devin Neal got his first carry, a 4-yard gain.
**The Saints got to fourth-and-one and Kelvin Banks Jr. committed a false start penalty.
**Blake Grupe cam in and kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 13-3 with 7:50 to play in the first half. The drive covered 44 yards in eight plays.
**The Rams took no time to respond, driving 65 yards in three plays with Stafford throwing a perfect deep ball to Nacua for a 39-yard touchdown, over McKinstry, to give Los Angeles a 20-3 lead with 6:25 to play in the half.
**Young committed an offside penalty to help the Rams on the next possession.
**The Rams missed a field goal with 54 seconds left in the half due to a good rush by Justin Reid, who forced the kick to go wide.
**Shough hit a 13-yard pass to Rashid Shaheed and an 8-yard completion to Juwan Johnson. He then extended a play, rolled right, and hit Chris Olave for 27 yards to the Los Angeles 23-yard-line.
**Byron Young committed a roughing the passer penalty when he beat Taliese Fuaga for a sack but contacted him helmet-to-helmet.
**Shough then hit Johnson with an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 20-10 with seven seconds left in the first half. The drive covered 71 yards in six plays, taking just 47 seconds to score.
**Shough finished the half 8 of 14 for 84 yards with a score. Stafford was 18 of 23 for 215 yards and three touchdowns.
**Jonah Williams got a sack on the first possession of the second half.
**The Rams took all the air out of the New Orleans momentum going into halftime by taking the second half kickoff, taking 9:46 off the clock and scoring on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Stafford to Adams to make it 27-10 with 5:14 to play in the third quarter. The drive covered 80 yards in 16 plays.
**The only negative for the Rams was Nacua leaving with a chest injury after a jet sweep for a first down.
**Kamara then fumbled it away with Nate Landman punching the ball out and Kamren Kinchens recovering at the Los Angeles 48-yard-line.
**It was the ninth turnover in the last three games for the Saints. The Rams would capitalize on the giveaway.
**The Rams had 394 yards through three quarters to 140 for the Saints. Los Angeles had the ball for 33:26 to 11:34 for the Saints.
**The Saints ran a total of three plays in the third quarter.
**Kyren Williams made 34-10 with a 1-yard touchdown run with 12:40 to play in the game to cap a 10 play, 52-yard drive.
**Shough engineered a good drive, reaching the Los Angeles 7-yard-line. On fourth-and a long yard, the Saints elected to pull Shough, using Hill at quarterback. Predictably, he ran right. Predictably, with no blocking, he was stopped in his tracks and the Saints came up empty.
**Fuaga left the game injured in the fourth quarter, replaced by Asim Richards.
**Shough then avoided pressure, felt more pressure and threw an interception to Forbes Jr. The throw was late and it was right to Emmanuel Forbes.
**Carl Granderson committed a personal foul facemask penalty to add to the misery.
**It was the first win for the Rams against an NFC team this season.

   The Rams dominated in all phases.

   Los Angeles forced two turnovers and committed none.

   The Rams controlled the ball for 43:53 and had 438 yards to just 224 for the Saints, who had the ball for just 16:07. All indications are that it was the largest time of possession differential in the league thus far this season.

   Los Angeles was more physical and was faster.

   If you are searching for positives, Shough showed he can stand tall, wait for things to develop and can make the throws, despite the late interception.

   As the Saints public relations department tweeted, Demario Davis has now made at least 80 tackles in 13 consecutive seasons, remarkable consistency. He always plays, plays hard and plays well. The 13-year streak is the third-longest in the league currently, joining linebacker Bobby Wagner of the Commanders (14 straight seasons) and linebacker Lavonte David of Tampa Bay (13 straight seasons).

   The New Orleans offense sputtered early then could never get in a rhythm because they hardly had the ball.

   The New Orleans defense could not stop the run or pass and got pushed around. In position to make tackles, they missed often.

   If you thought next week’s game at Carolina was a potential win, consider this. The Panthers are now 6-5, well ahead of the Saints in the rebuilding mode.

   The rest of this season for the Saints is about evaluating players for Kellen Moore and his staff. It is hard to evaluate the staff, at this stage, given what they were given.

   On a day where the New Orleans Pelicans lost a 13th straight game and fell to 0-6 with a 31-point loss at Oklahoma City, the Saints continued their swoon.

   This is a low point for professional sports in New Orleans.

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
10/26/2025
By: Terrill J. Weil


   NEW ORLEANS, LA - The (1-6) Saints hosted the (5-2) division leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Caesars Super Dome on Sunday afternoon and fell to the Bucs, 23-3.

   The Saints offense struggled against the Tampa defense all day. 

   Spencer Rattler started the game and finished, 15-21 for 136 yards and an interception. Tyler Shough played in the second half, going, 17-30 for 128 yards and an interception.
   
   Alvin Kamara led the team in rushing with 21 yards on six carries.

   Rashid Shaheed led the team with nine catches for 75 yards.

   The defense was led by Demario Davis and Justin Reid with four tackles each. The defense managed three sacks, but weren't able to force any turnovers.
   
   After a scoreless first quarter, the Bucs were the first team to mount a scoring threat. But the New Orleans defense stood tall with a very impressive goal line stand, stuffing Tampa Bay four plays from the one yard line. 

   But a few seconds later, the Saints were facing a second and one from their ten yard line. Spencer Rattler took a deep drop and was intercepted by Anthony Nelson at the four yard line and easily jogged into the end zone. With 6:41 left in the second quarter, Tampa Bay led, 7-0.

   The Saints managed to drive deep into Tampa territory late in the quarter, but had to settle for a 48 yard Blake Grupe field goal with only 11 seconds left on the clock after the drive stalled at the Buc's 30 yard line.

   The contest went to the halftime break with Tampa Bay holding a 7-3 advantage. 


   Tampa Bay took the second half kickoff and methodically drove down the field. The ten play, 73 yard drive culminated with a one yard touchdown run by Sean Tucker. 14-3 Buccaneers with 10:12 left in the third quarter. 

   The Bucs extended their lead on a 55 yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin. 17-3, Tampa Bay with 4:02 left in the third.

   With the offense sputtering, Tyler Shough replaced Spencer Rattler at the 3:57 mark of the third quarter to try and spark things. Shough moved the team, but the drive ended when Antoine Winfield pulled the ball out of Chris Olave's hands for an interception. It was a nice pass by Shough right into Olave's hands, but Winfield simply took it away. Tampa Bay took the ball over at mid-field as the third quarter came to an end.

   Tampa Bay took advantage of the turnover, settling for a 52 yard field goal to increase their lead to 20-3 with 14:03 left in the contest.

   With the Saints offense still struggling, the Buccanners were able to pad their lead with another Chase McLaughlin field goal. 23-3, Tampa with 9:32 remaining. 

​   The Buccaneers' defense simply dominated, keeping the Saints reeling all day long. New Orleans turned the ball over four times and Saints quarterbacks were sacked five times. 

   With the loss, New Orleans falls to 1-7.  Next up, the Saints will go on the road to play the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday,
​November 2. Kickoff is set for 3:05 pm CST and will be televised on FOX.

​

Photos Below by: Michael Bacigalupi

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Da Boot Sports
10/19/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   It was a rainy, windy day in the Windy City. Fortunately, the field was covered up until two hours before kickoff and the rain stopped before game time.
   
​   The Bears came in leading the NFL with a plus eight in turnover margin. They left the game with a plus 11 margin, courtesy of Spencer Rattler.

   Caleb Williams and Rattler were once college teammates at Oklahoma with Williams winning out in the battle for the starting job.

   While Williams was nothing special Sunday, it is clear he is the better prospect, based on what we saw today.

   The eight-game win streak for the Saints over the Bears is over. Of course, that was expected.

   Rattler had not been the reason the Saints were not winning prior to this afternoon. He was a prime reason the Saints lost today.

   Good teams seem to get the benefit of most calls. Ask the Kansas City Chiefs.

   The Saints did not get a key call but did not do enough to help themselves to have any shot at winning.

   Here are my Quick Takes on the 26-14 Chicago win over New Orleans:

​**Inactives for the Saints included Ugo Amadi, Torricelli Simpkins, Xavier Truss, Jonah Williams, Rezjohn Wright and Isaac Yiadom.
**Blake Grupe continued to struggle on kickoffs, knocking the opening kickoff out of the end zone to give Chicago the ball at its 35-yard-line.
**Chase Young anticipated a quick flat pass and nearly intercepted it on the second play of the game.
**The Saints forced a 3-and-out, getting a stop for the first time in five weeks on the opening possession for an opponent.
**Alvin Kamara gained six yards on a toss-sweep left on the first offensive play for New Orleans. That would prove to be his highlight of the day.
**The good start turned bad quickly.
**Rattler held the ball too long on a pass play, decided to step up and try to run, carried the ball in one hand and was stripped by Motez Sweat. Gervon Dexter Sr. recovered the fumble at the New Orleans 24-yard-line. Rattler did everything wrong, holding the ball too long and holding the ball with one hand, enabling Sweat to strip him.
**Williams fumbled two snaps on the possession, Quincy Riley made a nice tackle in space and Jake Moody had to come on and kicked a 27-yard field goal to give Chicago a 3-0 lead with 9:34 to play in the first quarter.
**The Saints went 3-and-out again on their second possession.
**Young knocked down a second pass attempt from Williams on the next Chicago possession.
**Riley made a huge play, reading Williams, stepping in front of Rome Odunze and intercepting a pass at the Chicago 48-yard-line.
**It did not matter. A poor offense failed to capitalize in any fashion.
**Rashid Shaheed hurt the Saints with a false start, Rattler elected to throw a 1-yard pass to Chris Olave, rather than running for what would have been more yardage, before Blake Grupe missed another field goal, this time from 53 yards.
**As Nick Underhill noted, the Saints were now 1 of 26 on third-and-eight yards to go or longer this season following that possession.
**The New Orleans offense gained 27 yards on 11 snaps in the opening quarter.
**The defense had to defend a short field and held Chicago to a 39-yard field goal by Moody to give the Bears a 6-0 lead with 14:06 to play in the half.
**The Saints killed themselves on the next drive with an illegal formation penalty negating a Rattler run for a first down. Rattler got sacked twice. On both occasions, Kamara was beaten badly in pass protection.
**The Saints were bailed out by a roughing the passer penalty on Jaquan Brisker on a third-and-28, giving New Orleans a first down.
**Rattler then paid the price with another bad throw, behind Mason Tipton and it was intercepted by Nahshon Wright, who returned it to the New Orleans 30-yard-line. Rattler was way late with the throw and way behind Tipton, who was actually open on the play.
**That led to a D’Andre Swift 11-yard touchdown run as Swift scored easily through a gaping hole to give the Bears a 13-0 lead with 9:05 to play in the half, completing a 30-yard, four play drive.
**Oft-injured Kendre Miller left the game early with a knee injury. What else is new?
**Taysom Hill lost nine yards on a quarterback keeper and the Saints went 3-and-out as Rattler went deep for Olave, who returned to the game, but Rattler threw the ball out of bounds, not giving Olave a chance.
**Kai Kroger’s struggles continued as he hit a lousy 31-yard punt.
**Alontae Taylor went out of the game, came back in, and went out again.
**Kyle Monangai scored his first NFL touchdown with a 1-yard run to make it 20-0 with 2:51 to play in the half, finishing a 55-yard drive in eight plays.
**The Saints failed on a fourth-and-one at the Chicago 43-yard-line with 1:38 to play, giving the Bears the ball back.
**Rattler had Juwan Johnson open, threw it behind him but Johnson dropped yet another pass.
**Olave went in motion, Tyrique Stevenson had him in man coverage and Rattler hit Olave in stride for a 57-yard gain. It was just the ninth play of 20 or more yards for the Saints this season.
**The 10th play of 20 or more yards came next as Rattler connected with Olave on a 21-yard touchdown pass on a well-timed, perfect throw to cut the Chicago lead to 20-7 with 22 seconds left in the half.
**The drive covered 91 yards in five plays and took just 46 seconds for New Orleans to score.
**The Saints finished the first half with 104 yards, 91 of which came on the final drive of the half.
**New Orleans continued the momentum to start the second half. The Saints took the kickoff and drove 80 yards in 10 plays with Rattler hitting Olave with a 14-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 20-14 with 9:40 to play in the third quarter. Rattler had completions of 10 and 29 yards to Johnson to set up the score.
**Chicago drove to the New Orleans 2-yard-line and on fourth-and-goal, the Bears decided to go for it. Williams fumbled yet another snap and the Saints apparently had a big stop but a false start was called, giving the Bears a second chance and Moody kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it 23-14 with 4:07 to play in the third quarter.
**The drive covered 66 yards in eight plays.
**Rattler then made another big mistake. While extending a play, he decided to throw deep for Rashid Shaheed but overthrew him badly and Kevin Byard III intercepted it at the Chicago 12-yard-line, the third turnover by the Saints.
**Bryan Bresee and Young combined for the first sack of Williams early in the fourth quarter.
**Offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier dialed up a trick play to convert a third-and-20 on a completion to Hill, who then lateraled to Kamara and the play covered 31 yards. Unfortunately, the play was overruled on a successful challenge by Chicago to negate the play. It was extremely close and it was surprising that replay overruled it.
**The Bears increased the lead to 26-14 with a 33-yard field goal by Moody with 6:22 to play in the game to finish off an eight play, 51-yard drive.
**Erik McCoy left the game and Luke Fortner took over at center.
**Rattler threw his third interception of the afternoon and committed his fourth turnover of the game as Tremaine Edmunds picked off an ill-advised throw across his body into three navy blue jerseys, intended for Jack Stoll.
**Chicago got the ball back and the Bears were able to run the clock out.

   The thought here was that Tyler Shough would get his shot after the bye week following week 10. Will his shot come earlier now?

   The Saints are going nowhere fast at 1-6.

   Have they seen enough of Rattler?

   At some point, you have to see what you have in Shough.

   After today’s game, that may become more of a focus for Kellen Moore.

   Defensively, the Saints started well but were awful in the second half against the run, a reminder of who they were a year ago.

   Chicago gashed New Orleans for 220 yards rushing, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Chicago rushed for 13 first downs. When you run it that well and get turnovers, you dominate time of possession. Chicago had the ball for 36:19 to just 23:41 for the Saints. That contributed to the New Orleans defense wearing down against the run.

   Conversely, the Saints cannot run the ball.

   New Orleans rushed for just 44 yards on 17 carries, an average of 2.6 yards per carry. Kamara is not the same player he once was, Miller is hurt again, Hill is still coming back from a serious injury and Devin Neal is a rookie. Still, the offensive line play is a clear part of that failure, just as it was part of Rattler being sacked four times.

   The kicking game remains poor.

   Grupe kicked off in the end zone again and missed a field goal while Kroger hit a 31-yard punt and the return game was nominal.

   We learned nothing new today.

   The Saints are a bad team and remain that way.

   The Saints cannot score.

   The Saints are still below average against the run.

   The Saints kicking game is below average.

   That defines bad.

   The Saints return home to play their first division game against the top dog in Tampa Bay next Sunday.

   The only question now is when Shough will get his shot.

   Though it may not move the needle, it is certainly worth a look in this otherwise predictably forgettable season.

Da Boot Sports
10/12/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   The New Orleans Saints were catching the New England Patriots coming off an emotionally and physically draining victory over their biggest rival, the Buffalo Bills.
   
   While one though process is that momentum would carry over, the other thought process was that New England would not be able to match the emotional and physicality of the previous week. Unfortunately for the Saints, the Patriots showed up and played well. As a favorite with better personnel, that was enough to get the job done.

   Drake Maye and former LSU wide receiver Kayshon Boutte of Westgate High School combined to inflict pain upon the home team.

   Here are my Quick Takes on the 25-19 New England win over New Orleans:

​**Inactives for the Saints included Ugo Amadi, Khristian Boyd, Torricelli Simpkins, Xavier Truss, Rezjohn Wright and Isaac Yiadom
**With Cesar Ruiz active, the Saints had their starting offensive line begin the game for just the second time this season.
**On the first play from scrimmage, Spencer Rattler hit Chris Olave for 53 yards to the New England 22-yard-line.
**The Saints could not full capitalize, doing nothing on the next three downs and Blake Grupe kicked a 34-yard field goal to give New Orleans a 3-0 lead with 12:50 to play in the opening quarter.
**Grupe’s shaky kickoffs continued as he booted the ensuing kickoff in the end zone, giving New England the ball at its own 35-yard-line.
**Drake Maye put New England on top with a 53-yard touchdown pass to DeMario Douglas and it was 7-3 with 10:52 to play in the first quarter. Douglas ran a deep cross and was wide open with only safety Jonas Sanker in pursuit and he missed the tackle. It took just four plays to go 65 yards for the score.
**The Saints had a good drive which reached the New England 3-yard line on a completion from Rattler to Devaughn Vele but Kelvin Banks was flagged for holding, killing the possession. Grupe connected on a 48-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 5:05 to play in the first quarter.
**The Patriots had a 61-yard touchdown pass from Maye to Douglas negated by an offensive pass interference penalty on Stefon Diggs. Maye extended the play and Douglas was wide open.
**It did not matter. On the next play, Quincy Riley committed pass interference penalty on Kyle Williams, giving the Patriots a first down and a gain of 21 yards to midfield.
**Then, Jonathan Bullard was flagged for defensive holding, giving New England another first down.
**Maye hit Boutte with a 25-yard touchdown pass, a perfect throw as Boutte was blanketed by Kool-Aid McKinstry to make it 14-6 with 33 seconds left in the first quarter. McKinstry and Boutte had simultaneous possession and that is always awarded to the offensive player.
**The drive covered 69 yards in six plays.
**The Patriots had 118 yards while the Saints totaled 114 in the first quarter.
**Kevin Banks Jr. went down with 14:10 to play in the first half. Asim Richard replaced him at left tackle briefly. Banks was able to return on the same possession.
**Taysom Hill scored on a 2-yard run to cut the deficit to 14-13 with 9:42 to play in the first half, capping an 11 play, 60-yard drive in 5:51. It was an impressive drive mixing runs and passes.
**Danny Stutsman replaced Pete Werner at linebacker in the second quarter. Werner did not appear to have an injury.
**New England elected to go for a fourth-and-seven at the New Orleans 39-yard-line but a bad snap from center forced Maye to fall on the ball at the New England 47-yard line, a loss of 14 yards on the aborted play.
**Rattler made a very good deep throw in the end zone to Olave against tight coverage, the ball hit Olave in the hands but he failed to make the catch. That led to a 38-yardfield goal by Grupe to give the Saints a 16-14 lead with 1:51 to play in the half. The drive went 27 yards in eight plays, taking 3:59 off the clock.
**Werner returned on the next defensive series.
**The Patriots had plenty enough time to answer and did, driving 73 yards in seven plays, taking just 1:20 with Maye hitting a wide open Boutte for a 29-yard touchdown. Maye snuck in the 2-point conversion to give New England a 22-16 lead with 31 seconds left in the half.
**The only defensive stop for the Saints in the half was on a bad snap, an aborted play.
**New England amassed 217 yards to 188 for the Saints in the half.
**Rattler was 12 of 14 for 129 yards in the half while Maye was 11 of 13 for 185 yards and three touchdowns for a perfect passer rating of 158.3.
**The Saints were penalized for a personal foul face mask penalty on Chris Rumph III, giving New England great field position at its own 43-yard-line.
**The Patriots drove to the New Orleans 1-yard-line but Jonathan Bullard made a tackle for a 4-yard loss, followed by a delay of game penalty and New England settled for a 24-yard field goal by Andy Borregales to increase the lead to 25-16 with 7:26 to play in the third quarter.
**The drive was 12 plays, 50 yards and took 7:34 off the clock, more than half the third quarter.
**Trevor Penning was penalized for holding on the next possession, stopping a promising New Orleans drive.
**Kai Kroger punted, the first punt of the game for either team, and hit an awful 23-yard effort.
**The Saints then got a stop and forced the first punt of the game by New England.
**Erik McCoy committed a false start on the next New Orleans series.
**The Saints cut the deficit to 25-19 on a 54-yard field goal by Grupe with 13:41 to play in the game.
**New Orleans got a stop, got the ball back, Rattler completed a pass to Juwan Johnson for 14 yards to the New Orleans 49-yard-line but he fumbled it away and Craig Woodson recovered for the Patriots, a costly turnover.
**The play was originally ruled down by contact but Mike Vrabel challenged it and won the challenge. It was a close call.
**The Saints got another stop but were unable to mount a drive and had to punt.
**New England got the ball back and the Saints forced a third-and-11 but Maye made a perfect back shoulder throw to Boutte, who was working on McKinstry and the Patriots were able to run out the clock.

   Once again, the Saints competed well.

   Once again, as has been the case many times, the Saints had chances but simply could not finish drives. You are not going to win with 19 points. You are not going to win with one touchdown.

   Rattler played well, completing 20 of 26 passes for 227 yards.

   Olave had six catches for 98 yards but had a chance to make a touchdown catch and did not and had a chance at one other pass.

   The Saints did not run the ball well enough, rushing for just 73 yards.

   After a brutal first half, the New Orleans defense was better in the second half but could not get off the field when it needed to.

   Davon Godchaux had his best game as a Saint, in on seven tackles, including one for a loss against his former team.

   Werner had a sack and another quarterback hit.

   Grupe quieted critics, making all four field goal attempts.


   Maye looks the part of a very good young quarterback. He finished 18 of 26 for 251 yards and three touchdowns and he hurt the Saints with six carries for 32 yards, extending several plays.

   Boutte had five catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns in his return to south Louisiana.

   The Saints had their chances. They simply could not get it done.

   The Saints (1-5) travel to Chicago to face the Bears next Sunday, going against former New Orleans head coach and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, now the defensive coordinator with Chicago.

   Rest assured, Allen will dial up everything in his arsenal to beat his former team.

​   Then again, it is not that tough a task against the 2025 New Orleans Saints. While the Saints are competing hard, the hard truth is they are simply not good enough, though we knew that already.

​   

Da Boot Sports
10/5/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   The 2025 New Orleans Saints lacked big plays in their first four games of the season; all were losses. That trend ended Sunday.It did not good look good early as the Giants scored touchdowns on their first two possessions. It looked very good late after the Saints shut out New York the rest of the way.

   The last time the Saints had two touchdowns of 86 yards or more was in 1998 against Minnesota when Aaron Craver had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Sammy Knight returned an interception 91 yards for a score. Ironically, the Saints lost that game.

   The Saints scored on an 87-yard touchdown pass and an 86-yard fumble recovery and return for a score. That anomaly from another century did not occur Sunday. When you make big plays, you win games. New Orleans came up with huge plays on offense and defense.

   When you win the turnover battle, you typically win games. When you win the turnover battle by a whopping margin of five, you are unquestionably going to win.

   The result was obvious for New Orleans against the New York Giants at the Caesars Superdome. Kellen Moore has his first win as an NFL head coach.

   After 10 straight losses, Spencer Rattler has his first win as an NFL quarterback.

   The Saints won their third straight game in the series with the Giants and evened the all-time series at 17-17.

   Here are my Quick Takes on the 26-14 New Orleans victory over New York:
**Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau were both active for the first time this season.
**Inactives for the Saints included Devin Neal, Isaac Yiadom, Cesar Ruiz, Xavier Truss, Khristian Boyd and Chase Young.
**The Saints won the toss and elected to receive. Hill and Moreau led the “Who Dat?” chant to loud applause.
**The opening kickoff ended up on the ground and Velus Jones Jr. could only return it eight yards to the 9-yard-line.
**The Saints got a false start penalty by Juwan Johnson and went three-and-out as Rattler passed incomplete into traffic twice. Moreau was in on the series.
**Kool Aid McKinstry committed a pass interference penalty to sustain the first drive of the Giants.
**Jacson Dart hit Daniel Bellinger for 18 yards to the New Orleans 1-yard-line.
**On the next play, Dart hit a wide open Theo Johnson for a 1-yard touchdown to give the Giants a 7-0 lead, capping an eight play, 59-yard drive in 4:05. Dart was 5 of 5 for 45 yards and the score on the drive.
**Taysom Hill was back in his familiar up back position calling signals on the first New Orleans punt and he was in on offense, lining up at quarterback on the first play of the second offensive series for the Saints. Rashid Shaheed was penalized for being offside on the play.
**Rattler was picked off but Deonte Banks was flagged for pass interference, a 25-yard penalty, giving the Saints the ball at midfield.
**The Saints continued the drive and reached the New York 10-yard-line and stalled. Blake Grupe kicked a 28-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 1:40 to play in the opening quarter.
**The drive covered 70 yards in 14 plays, taking 7:54 off the clock.
**Bryan Bresee broke up a pass on the next New York possession but Dart scrambled for 20 yards to the New Orleans 24-yard-line to end the first quarter.
**The Giants had 93 yards to just 54 for the Saints through one quarter.
**Justin Reid went out for the game in the first quarter with a concussion. Reid has had several injuries already this season while Julian Blackmon, his running mate, is out for the year. Jordan Howden replaced Reid.
**Dart finished the drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Theo Johnson to give the Giants a 14-3 lead with 13:01 to play in the half.
**The drive covered 70 yards in eight plays, taking 3:39 off the clock.
**It marked the first time since 2020 that the Giants scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of a game and it was the second straight week that Dart, starting just his second game, led the Giants to a touchdown on their first possession.
**New Orleans had a decent drive and Grupe connected on a 53-yard field goal to make it 14-6 with 7:41 to play in the first half. The drive was 12 plays, 49 yards, taking 5:20 off the clock.
**The Saints finally hit the big play as Spencer Rattler connected with Rashid Shaheed on an 87-yard touchdown pass on a deep corner route. Shaheed beat two defenders, with safety Tyler Nubin in pursuit, and the throw was right on the mark. Shaheed outran two defenders for the score to make it 14-13 with 5:16 to play in the half.
**The Giants were flagged for pass interference on consecutive plays. The second was on former Saint Paulson Adebo.
**That lead to a 52-yard field goal attempt by Grupe which he pulled wide left.
**That gave the Giants the ball at their onwn 42-yard-line with 1:25 to play in the half.
**Dart completed a pass to Darius Slayton but Demario Davis forced a fumble and Jonas Sanker returned the fumble to the New York 41-yard-line with 1:02 to play in the half.
**That led to a 29-yard field goal by Grupe on the final play of the half to give the Saints a 16-14 lead at the break. The drive covered 30 yards in eight plays.
**With four catches in the first half, Alvin Kamara now has 590 career receptions, surpassing Tiki Barber and Marcus Allen for fifth all-time in receptions among running backs.
**On the opening drive of the second half, Dart, with an enormous amount of time to throw the ball, simply dropped the ball and Cam Jordan recovered for the Saints at the New Orleans 46-yard-line.
**That gave the Saints the ball with the lead for the first time this season, with 10:52 to play of the third quarter of game five.
**Hill extended the next drive with a third down pass completion to Juwan Johnson for 19 yards to the 7-yard-line of New York after Rattler hit Chris Olave for 19 yards.
**Torricelli Simpkins committed a false start penalty, pushing the ball back to the 12-yard-line and that hurt the possession.
**Grupe kicked a 28-yard field goal to extend the New Orleans lead to 19-14 with 6:55 to play in the third quarter.
**The drive went 44 yards in 10 plays, taking 3:57 off the clock.
**The Giants were driving for a potential go-ahead score and Howden came up with a huge play. Bryan Bresee forced a fumble by Cam Skattebo and Howden picked it up and returned it 86 yards for a touchdown to give the Saints a 26-14 lead.

**Kool Aid McKinstry came up with his first of two turnovers with an interception of Dart on the next possession at the New Orleans 5-yard-line.
**Then, McKinstry secured his second interception of Dart with five minutes to play.
**That marked five consecutive possessions with a turnover for the Giants. The last team to commit a turnover on five straight possessions in the NFL was the New York Jets against Kansas City on Nov. 25, 2016.
**The five turnovers are the most since the Saints came up with five in a win over Chicago on Nov. 5, 2023 when the Saints won 24-17.
**Grupe missed a 46-yard field goal wide right.
**Carl Granderson got a sack of Dart but was flagged for a personal foul. It was a simply terrible call. Granderson did nothing wrong.
**McKinstry broke up a pass in the end zone in the final minute.

   Rattler is the first quarterback drafted by the Saints to win a game since Danny Wuerffel did so in 1998. The second-year pro finished 20 of 30 for 225 yards and a touchdown and rushed six times for 21 yards.

   The secondary, without Blackmon and Reid, was considered a weak spot for the Saints. It was a definitive strength against the Giants. Jonas Sanker missed a potential interception but was good with seven tackles and the fumble recovery.

   McKinstry had a breakthrough game with his two interceptions and broke up a pass in the end zone. Pete Werner led in tackles with 11 and he had a quarterback hit.

   Shaheed had four catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Kendre Miller ran hard, with 10 carries for 41 yards. Olave had seven catches for 59 yards. The Saints were 7 of 15 on third down conversions.

   Dart, who started in fantastic fashion, was less than fantastic overall. Dart was 26 of 40 for 202 yards and two touchdowns but with two interceptions. He rushed seven times for 55 yards.

   The only negative was the kicking game/special teams for New Orleans, an ongoing issue.

   Coverage teams were not good enough, Grupe missed two more field goals and put a kickoff in the end zone, giving New York the ball at the 35-yard-line. Kickoff returns were abysmal, with poor decisions to field the ball and weak returns.

   Now 1-4, the Saints look for a win streak next Sunday at home against New England.

   For the first time since Nov. 17, 2024, Saints fans could finally chant “Who Dat” toward game’s end, snapping a 6-game home losing streak.

   Enjoy it, Saints fans!
​

Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi

Post-game press conference Below

Da Boot Sports
9/28/2025
Article Courtesy of Crescent City Sports
By: Ken Trahan


   You probably heard the numbers, and they were daunting. No 0-3 team had beaten a 3-0 team in 17 years.The Saints entered their game at Buffalo as a 15.5 to 16-point underdog, the largest spread of the young NFL season.

   New Orleans caught the Bills in perfect weather fashion, sunny and 73 degrees. The Saints had won four straight games at Buffalo. No one expected the Saints to win. They did not.

   Here are my Quick Takes on the 31-19 Buffalo win over the Saints:

​**Inactives for the Saints were Jonathan Bullard, Devin Neal, Trey Palmer, Dillon Radunz, Xavier Truss, Rejzohn Wright and Chase Young.
**The Saints won the toss and deferred, giving the Bills the ball first.
**That was not a good idea.
**Josh Allen hit Khalil Shakir with a 43-yard touchdown pass to give the Bills a 7-0 lead with 10:49 to play in the opening quarter.
**Demario Davis and Jonas Sanker each missed a tackle on Shakir, who made the catch in the right flat and turned a short pass into a long touchdown.
**The drive covered 79 yards in seven plays, taking 4:11 off the clock.
**The Bills have scored a touchdown on all four opening drives this season, hence questioning the decision to give the Bills the ball first.
**Velus Jones Jr. finally got a chance to return a kickoff and did a good job with a 30-yard return.
**The Saints opened with their projected starting five offensive linemen for the first time this season.
**The Saints had to waste a timeout prior to their second offensive snap of the game.
**Spencer Rattler scrambled for a first down twice to extend the possession.
**Rattler then hit an open Juwan Johnson for 17 yards and a first down.
**Kendre Miller then ran inside, broke three tackles and raced 17 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 6:46 to play in the opening quarter.
**It was the first time in 10 games that the Saints scored a touchdown on their opening drive, dating to last season.
**The drive covered 69 yards in seven plays, taking 4:03 off the clock.
**The Bills answered easily. James Cook scored on a 1-yard run to make it 14-7 with 2:29 to play in the first quarter, completing a 66 yard drive in seven plays. Buffalo had open receivers throughout the drive.
**Cook set a franchise record, scoring a rushing touchdown in his eighth straight game. It was his 21st rushing touchdown since last year, which leads the league.
**Ugo Amadi was flagged for holding on the ensuing kickoff, burying the Saints at their own 13-yard-line.
**Alvin Kamara swept left for 17 yards and a first down. Johnson had a good kickout block on the play.
**Rattler then bought time and hit Rashid Shaheed for 10 yards and a first down.
**Buffalo amassed 145 yards to 106 for the Saints in the opening quarter.
**Rattler was then sacked on consecutive plays to kill the possession for the Saints. On the second sack, Rattler was flagged for intentional grounding, a 16-yard penalty.
**Jonas Sanker then showed out. First, he broke up a pass on an outstanding play before making a great read on a deep ball by Allen intended for Keon Coleman against Isaac Yaidom and Sanker intercepted it at the Buffalo 49-yard-line.
**It was the first turnover of the season for Buffalo and the first interception of Sanker’s career.
**The Saints did nothing with the turnover, going three-and-out as Chris Olave failed to catch what would have been a first down completion from Rattler and had to punt.
**Kai Kroger punted beautifully, downed by Jones at the Buffalo 3-yard-line.
**Pete Werner dropped another potential interception when Allen had his arm hit under pressure from Chris Rumph III.
**The Saints started a second consecutive drive at the Buffalo 49-yard-line.
**Once again, the Saints failed to take full advantage but Blake Grupe, who has been poor previously, nailed a 54-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 14-10 with 5:31 to play in the half.
**Jordan came up with his 124th career sack, surpassing Robert Mathis for 20th all-time in NFL history. Allen became the 50th quarterback Jordan has sacked in his illustrious 15-year career.
**Granderson sacked Allen on the next play, forcing a punt.
**New Orleans got the ball at the Buffalo 40-yard-line after a nine-yard punt return by Shaheed.
**Miller followed with a 13-yard run for a first down.
**Cesar Ruiz went down with 1:47 to play in the half with an ankle injury, replaced by Torricelli Simpkins. Ruiz did not return.
**The Saints reached the Buffalo 6-yard-line and on third and goal, Kellen Moore went for a trick play on a reverse to Olave, who then tried to throw a pass to Rattler and Cole Bishop read it and intercepted it to kill the drive. It was the “Philly Special” which worked so well for the Eagles, not so much for the Saints.
**The Saints finished the first half with 117 yards rushing, just 43 passing. Rattler was a big part of it with five carries for 38 yards.
**The Saints finished the half with 160 yards to just 158 for the Bills, who had just 13 yards in the second quarter.
**Kamara ran 12 yards for a first down on a sweep left to start the second half but Rattler threw behind Olave and Olave could not catch it, despite getting his hands on it and the Saints ended up punting.
**The Saints finally broke defensively as the Bills drove 80 yards in nine plays with Allen running it in from five yards out to make it 21-10 with 6:42 to play in the third quarter.
**New Orleans answered with an outstanding drive of 65 yards in 11 plays with Rattler hitting Olave with a 3-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-16 with 14 seconds left in the third quarter.
**Moore elected to go for two and ran Rattler behind a three tight-end setup but Rattler came up a yard short.
**The Bills had 248 yards while the Saints had 240 yards of offense after three quarters.
**Granderson made a huge stop on a fourth-and-one at the New Orleans midfield.
**The Saints had a chance to take the lead with another good drive but on third down, Rattler threw behind an open Brandin Cooks in the end zone. Cooks reached back for the poor throw with one hand, brought it back toward his body and pulled it in. Initially, it was ruled a touchdown but upon replay review, the call was overturned. It was a big miss by Rattler.
**Grupe kicked a 35-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-19 with 8:53 to play in the game. The drive covered 32 yards in nine plays.
**Grupe then failed to kick the ensuing kickoff in the required zone, giving the Bills the ball at their own 40-yard-line. It was the second time he has done so this year and it simply cannot happen.
**Allen came up with a 27-yard run on third-and-five.
**On the next play, Allen hit Dalton Kincaid with a 28-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-19 with 7:07 to play in the game. It was Kincaid’s first catch of the game. It took the Bills just four plays to go 60 yards, taking advantage of the good field position.
**The Saints had a fourth-and-two at the Buffalo 41-yard-line, went for it but Rattler felt pressure, threw it short of the sticks to Kamara and he was stopped, giving the ball back to Buffalo with just under six minutes left in the game.
**Bryan Bresee collected his first sack of the season, getting Allen on the ensuing series to force a punt. It marked the first time Allen was sacked more than twice in 17 games.
**It did not matter. Nephi Sewell committed an obvious roughing the kicker penalty with 5:11 to play to finish the Saints, who had used all their timeouts.
**Matt Prater finished the scoring with a 35-yard field goal.
**Rattler was sacked twice on the final offensive series of the game for the Saints.

   There were some good things for the Saints.

   The pass rush was good, producing three sacks.

   Sanker was outstanding, producing five tackles, three passes broken up and an interception.

   Jordan had four tackles, including a sack, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hits.

   Granderson had five tackles, including a sack, two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss.

   Kroger punted well, averaging 47.3 yards per punt with two punts downed inside the 20-yard-line.

   Jones returned kickoffs effectively.

   New Orleans ran the ball quite well, to the tune of 189 yards. Kamara, Miller and Rattler all ran the ball solidly.

   Rattler continues to play solidly enough to not get his team beat but continues to not make plays that have to be made if a below average team is going to win a game. He is now 0-10 as a starting quarterback for the Saints.

   Much like he missed an open Olave in the end zone against San Francisco, he missed an open Cooks in the end zone today. These are throws that have to be made. He finished 18 of 27 but for just 126 yards with a touchdown. He did not turn the ball over.

   The Saints caught Buffalo not playing its best football and competed well. New Orleans had a chance in the fourth quarter for the third time in four games.

   The Saints limp home at 0-4 to take on another lowly team, the New York Giants and rookie quarterback Jackson Dart, who will be making just his second NFL start.

   That’s the good news.

   The bad news is that the Giants got their first win, upsetting the Chargers 21-18. Unfortunately, former LSU star Malik Nabers reportedly suffered a torn ACL in the game.

   Moore is the first Saints coach to start 0-4 since Tom Fears did so in the inaugural season of the franchise in 1967.

   The watch continues.

   When will Rattler win his first game?

   When will Moore win his first game?

   That is the mantra of a last-place team.
​

Post Game Press Conference

​John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior)

​*John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.