The Saints may have a new era underway, with new coaches and players, but the feeling sitting in many fans’ stomachs is eerily familiar. 

In Kellen Moore’s debut as a head coach, many similar mishaps from last season were present: questionable time management, disgustingly vanilla playcalling, pre-snap penalties left and right, the defense letting up big plays on 3rd downs, and oh, Chris Olave almost got killed again. The storyline of the game was also a mirror image of games from the previous regime, as the team built optimism early, then made fans consider breaking out the brown bags, just to rebuild that hope and break every heart in the dome in the end. With all that being said, let’s break it down.

What I was Looking for

The Saints are a team clearly trying to cover up a rebuild, so I was by no means expecting much, but I was hoping to see some young players show promise. The notes I made before the game to look for were: 

• How does Kool-Aid look against Marvin Harrison Jr.? Does he look like a CB1?
• Does Rattler look calm, cool, and collected in the pocket, and is he making good decisions?
• Can the Saints' defense finally stop a mobile QB with Staley at the Helm? (While noting that Chase Young is missing)
• What is the target share between Olave and Shaheed?

Kool-Aid:  Kool-Aid McKinstry’s performance left more to be desired, but also showed that there is a possibility for him to grow into a solid player for the Saints, just maybe not that true CB1. Throughout the game, it felt as if the Cardinals were targeting him, and perhaps the defensive play calls weren’t doing him any favors (man-to-man at the end zone against a mesh concept). He had a good PBU against MHJ that appeared clean, only to be wiped away by a late PI call. MHJ then beat him on solid coverage on a go ball, and he also had a bad mistake on a long run down the sideline, where he failed to force Trey Benson out of bounds. 

Rattler:  Spencer Rattler’s day was also a mixed bag, but it felt like Kellen Moore’s playcalling was extremely limiting Rattler’s ability to air it out. Spencer Rattler finished the day with 214 yards from 27 completions, with 0 touchdowns or interceptions. It felt as though Kellen Moore didn’t fully trust Rattler in this one, calling what felt like a short hitch/slant followed by a run over and over until the Saints' final two drives. The only two times before that drive that Rattler really let loose were two deep ball attempts to Rashid Shaheed, one being a pick called back by a Cardinals penalty, and the other being a missed PI. The first throw was a poor decision, as Shaheed never seemed to come open, whereas the second was good ball placement on a fade. In the final two drives of the game, Rattler made good decision after good decision, and gave Juwan Johnson the chance to tie the game with a perfectly thrown pass down the seam, which was sadly dropped. With all this being said, I don’t think Rattler was good or bad, and I would love to see the performance on the final two drives spread out throughout the rest of the game (which could also mean adjusting the playcalling throughout). 

Defense vs. Murray:  The Saints defense has struggled massively with mobile quarterbacks for what feels like an eternity, so what we saw today felt slightly better than I expected. Although Kyler Murray was able to escape a few times and extend drives with his legs early, having 38 yards on 7 carries, the Saints' defense felt like they were able to slow him down when it got to crunch time. In this game, the Saints were also without their lead man in pressures from last season, Chase Young. Without him, they demanded more from Cam Jordan and Carl Granderson, who both absolutely balled out, with 1.5 sacks each. When we all went into this game, did any of us expect Cam Jordan to have 1.5 sacks?!? Although it’s not the younger guys stepping up, I will take that from a guy who has been talked about as simply a “vet presence” in the locker room.

Target Share, Who’s the WR1:  An interesting wrinkle in this training camp was that Rashid Shaheed was seemingly getting the same, if not more, targets than the team’s WR1, Chris Olave. In this game, Olave finished with 54 yards from 7 receptions on 13 targets, and Shaheed finished with 33 yards from 6 receptions on 9 targets. The majority of these receptions came short of the sticks, with an exception here and there. Shaheed did not seem to be involved in the game at all until the second half, which felt like another misstep in gameplanning by Kellen Moore. 

The Offense

The Good:  The Saints' offense had some great runs from Alvin Kamara (11 car, 45 yds, 1 td) and Kendre Miller (5 car, 24 yds), with Devin Neal also stepping in with a couple of nice runs (2 car, 9 yds). Another reflection from the previous season popped up, with the team's leading receiver from the previous season, Juwan Johnson, stepping up big time (8 rec, 76 yards). He did “drop” the potential game-tying pass from Spencer Rattler, but the defender made a great play on the ball to hit it out. Rattler had flashes, as I previously mentioned, so he held off the “Tyler Shough should be playing” conversation for at least another week. 

The Bad:  The Saints' offense had more bad moments than good today, with numerous penalties both pre and post-snap by the offensive line stalling drives. Kellen Moore, coming over as an offensive-minded head coach and as one who focused on building the OL this offseason, should be able to have these penalties held to a minimum. The playcalling by Moore also felt really iffy as passing concepts seemed to all go short of the sticks, even on late downs. In addition, the run game became very predictable, and also fell non-existent in the second half. Something that feels like a gimme for this team, year in, year out, are targets for Alvin Kamara in the passing game, and no screens or designed dump-offs to him seemed like an idea to Moore. The Saints went 5-14 on 3rd down and 1-4 in the red zone, both of which need to be improved.

The Defense

The Good:  The Saints' defense had flashes early, with quick pressures often to start and finish the game. The defense finished with 5 sacks, without Chase Young, a number they can look to improve upon each week when he comes back. Both linebackers, Demario Davis and Pete Werner, looked poised yet again, making plays all across the field and making good tackles. The safety play by Justin Reid felt noticeable in the run game, as he came up and made tackles throughout the game. Oh, and Alontae Taylor is still that dude in the slot. 

The Bad:  After the pressures accrued early in the game, in the middle of it, they felt non-existent. It felt as though Kyler had lots of time in the pocket, and that no edge was being set on the run game. For this Saints team to be better than expectations, the pressure needs to be present all game, and they can’t afford not to set the edge. The cornerback play looked iffy at best from everyone not named Alontae Taylor, with the Cardinals attacking both Yiadom and McKinstry when paired against MHJ or McBride. 

Special Teams:  The only good for this unit is that Kendre Miller, Rashid Shaheed, and Bryan Bresee are still on the roster. Kendre Miller and Rashid Shaheed provide great energy and potential for every kick and punt return, and Bryan Bresee feels built to block field goals. On the other hand, the coverage units on both sides were hit or miss, leading me to question even more the decision to cut JT Gray. Oh, and Blake Grupe pulled a Blake Grupe on a short field goal after being seemingly perfect all preseason and training camp.

Closing and Team MVPs

All in all, this game felt like one the Saints could have easily won if they were more polished on both sides of the ball, something we have been saying for years. The start to the Kellen Moore era has me questioning his decisions, but I’ll give him some time and grace to see if things improve. I shouldn’t feel like the old vets are the only thing providing sparks on a rebuilding team, but today that’s how it felt. 

Offensive MVP: Alvin Kamara

Defensive MVP: Cam Jordan

Special Teams MVP: Bryan Bresee