 Photo By: New Orleans Saints 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. 
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