 Photo By: Michael Bacigalupi 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. 
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