New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons 2025 Week 18 Recap

Greyson Jenkins • January 4, 2026

Following an amazing resurgence fueled by Tyler Shough, the Saints' season has finally come to an end. What’s next?

New Orleans Saints 17 - 19 Atlanta Falcons


 The Saints' season is officially over. As sad as it is to say that, this season ended on a much more positive note than I expected, and has me actually looking forward to the offseason, not dreading it. The defense finished on a positive note, Tyler Shough is definitely the guy for at least the next few seasons, and Kellen Moore improved over the second half of the year. If the season finished how we expected prior to Shough saving the team, this offseason would be much more bleak in appearance. This is supposed to be a week 18 recap, but why recap a game no one really had any expectations for or cared about? No one, not even us Saints fans or analysts, really expected Shough to be able to do much with this offensive group, and he couldn’t really. Sure, he made a few really good plays, but you could tell Kellen Moore was struggling to find plays that he felt confident running with the receivers, and I don’t view that as a negative, just a bad scenario for everyone. Because of this, I am not going to write this really as a week 18 recap, but more as a short preview of this offseason. 


Chase Young

Chase Young has made it clear that he is the best young player on this Saints team. Maybe you could swap him out with Chris Olave, but I struggle to overlook his incredible performances and constant clutch play in big moments to close out the year. He finished this game with one and a half sacks and three tackles for losses, but should have even had one more sack and a forced fumble on his stat sheet. Mickey Loomis seemingly has gotten away with the deal of a lifetime, sorry Loomis haters, by signing Young to a three-year deal for only $17 million per year on average. That is more than $10 million less than what the top 10 defensive end salaries are on a per-year basis, and Young has 10 sacks in 12 games played. While watching this one, I texted my buddies and said that Young is a top 10 EDGE in the league at this point, but they disagree. Although he may not be right now, Chase Young is quickly improving and becoming what everyone expected him to be when he came into the league. If he continues down this path, it would be extremely reasonable for him to try and get a pay raise after next season. Going into this offseason, the Saints must add at least one other piece to the defensive end rotation, so teams are forced to take their focus off of Young and open up the opportunity for even more plays by him. 


Tyler Shough

Tyler Shough did not by any means have a perfect game; he finished 23 of 39 for 259 yards and a touchdown and an interception. However, as I said earlier, I don’t think anyone expected him to with the weapons at his disposal. He led the team down the field multiple times, and a Charlie Smyth missed field goal, and Dante Pettis offensive pass interference made this game appear worse offensively than it was. He made some throws and plays out of scheme that once again added to the current mindset that he is the team’s future, so I am not worried about the interception that came late in the fourth quarter on the tenth or so double slant pattern of the game. However, I will say that Shough’s ability to make things work at times with this battered of a weapon room is impressive in itself, and means that if the team decides to go and get him weapons in the draft or free agency, he can be even more successful. I’d really like the Saints to leave the draft with one of the following: Jeremiyah Love, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, or Elijah Sarratt. If they do that, I think this offense alongside Shough would be extremely fun to watch next season. 


The Defense


 The Saints' defense finished the season without allowing a fourth-quarter touchdown since Week 11 against the Falcons. Yes, week 11. Although I felt the defense started off pretty rough, the second half of the season was a true testament to Brandon Staley’s abilities as a defensive coordinator. The Saints' defense improved this season in both total scoring and yardage allowed in comparison to last season, at 17th and 9th, respectively, before this game. They played another great game here with what should have been two turnovers if it weren’t for a bad call by the refs on the Chase Young strip-sack. Quincy Riley and Jonas Sanker both have been massive additions to this side of the ball, and Danny Stutsman appears to have the potential to be good whenever Werner or Davis leave. If the Saints decide to run it back with this same defense and bring back the vets, it would not be the worst thing in the world, but I would still like to see them bring in more young talent. 


Closing Time


This season was my first writing for the team, and I really enjoyed recapping all of the highs and lows of the season and trying to let you guys know exactly how I felt about the team week in, week out. As much as I hate this team missing the playoffs and the season ending today, I’m happy I had this opportunity and look forward to doing the same next season. I may write a few offseason articles, but if not, I will definitely have a few Saints-focused episodes on my YouTube channel, Jenks Island. Until next time, Who Dat!!


Offensive MVP: Tyler Shough


Defensive MVP: Chase Young


Special Teams MVP: NONE (Please fire Phil Galiano)


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Tight End Room Outlook: Revamped and Ready To Roll

By Kaden Arkeder • July 4, 2026
The tight end room has some fresh blood and they look poised to be more impactful heading into next season. With the new arrivals of Noah Fant and third round draft pick Oscar Delp the offense will have the ability to play more in multiple tight end sets to create mismatches for the defense. Multiple tight end sets should allow the Saints to improve the run game and conversely the play action game. Playing in tight end heavy sets was something they were unable to do more of last year due to injuries and lack of talent at the tight end position. Mainstay and the only returning starting caliber player is Juwan Johnson. Johnson had a good year last year as one of the few reliable targets in the passing game aside from Chris Olave. Johnson is looking to build on a solid year where he had 77 receptions for 889 receiving yards with 3 touchdowns. He was a security blanket when Rattler was starting and had quite a few big plays when Shough took over as the starting quarterback. With Shough coming into the season as the presumed starter I expect their connection to be even better next season. Someone hoping to have a better connection with a new QB is Noah Fant. Fant was a first round pick back in 2019 with the Broncos but has never quite lived up to his draft status. Fant will be playing on his third team in three years as he seeks to be a quality rotational piece in the offense and find stability for his career here in New Orleans. Fant should be utilized more in the passing game than in the running game but should be able to hold his own when called upon to do his part on run downs. Fant has been on a statistical decline since his time with Denver as his best receiving season came in at 68/670/4 back in 2021. Although his stats have been declining Fant still has plenty to offer with his athleticism and should produce more given a better opportunity. After Fant in the depth chart should be Oscar Delp who could be the x-factor of the tight end room after being selected in the third round of the draft this year. Delp brings a versatile option to the offense as he can lineup in various spots and handle the rigors of blocking in the run game. Delp’s calling card in college was his elite athleticism which jumps off the screen when you watch his tape. He has the ability to turn a five yard catch into an explosive play with how quickly he can get to top speed. Delp is an adequate, willing blocker where like most new tight ends in the league has room to improve in the blocking area of his game. With his versatility and athleticism I believe Delp will play a pivotal role in the offense this upcoming season. With Delp presumed to round out the depth chart at tight end the remaining tight ends will be competing for spots on the practice squad or spots on another team. This group includes Cody Hardy, Treyton Welch, Moliki Matavao, and Zaire Mitchell-Paden. We’ve seen Welch and Matavao from last season fill in admirably after some injuries but are best served as bench options at this point in time in their development. This group of roster hopefuls should hopefully provide some good competition from one another as we progress through training camp and preseason here shortly. Overall this group has a lot more promise heading into this season as it did last year. By getting younger and more athletic the tight ends will play a more prominent role in Kellen Moore’s offense. Whether it’s Juwan building on last season or Fant having a bounce back year or Delp proving to be revelation, the team is going to have plenty of options to choose from to attack the defense. Exactly what this team needed after not having enough last season.

Even the Restless can sit still

By Garrison Giddens • June 24, 2026
Why Pelicans fans should be grateful for a boring day 1 of draft night. 
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