There’s no such thing as moral victories in the NFL, but the New Orleans Saints did learn a lot about themselves in Sunday’s loss to the Washington Commanders.
After initially looking like a snoozer, the game wound up being pretty dramatic once Spencer Rattler stepped into the lineup. It ended with a bold two-point conversion attempt to try and complete the Saints’ comeback. New Orleans outscored Washington 19-6 in the second half and put it all on the line with that two-point try.
It was the right decision to go for it. Their defense got away with several coverage busts ruined by dropped passes, and overtime wasn’t guaranteed to go their way. Interim head coach Darren Rizzi has nothing to lose and being aggressive made sense.
What didn’t check out was going to Juwan Johnson with the game on the line. The tight end hasn’t made a play all year and his last catch needed a booth review to see if he even stayed in bounds. He shouldn’t have been the hot read on that last play when Foster Moreau had just caught a touchdown pass and Kendre Miller was running hard.
But what’s done is done. The Saints are now 5-9. They aren’t eliminated from playoff contention but they’re close. It should be clear now that Rattler, not Jake Haener, should be their quarterback until Derek Carr is healthy enough to return to the lineup. How these final three weeks shake out is anyone’s guess, but it’s looking like the Saints will be watching the playoffs from home for the fourth year in a row.
