New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2025 Week 8 Recap

Greyson Jenkins • October 27, 2025

The Saints officially hold the #1 overall pick… and the Tyler Shough Era has begun.

New Orleans Saints 3 - 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers


 This game was a tough watch. There weren’t many positives, and the offense looked the worst it has all season, including the pathetic performances against the Bears and Seahawks from earlier on. The defense held the Buccaneers to 16 offensive points, and yet the Buccaneers were so in control of the game that they were able to put their second stringers in. That shouldn’t happen. 


The Positives

Get ready for the shortest positives section of the season. There is not one positive from the offensive side of the ball, but surprisingly, there are a couple on the defensive side. 

Chase Young once again made his presence felt on the opposing team, having a tackle for loss, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. You can clearly see that he is a good building block for this team for the future when healthy, but he needs someone on the other side who can help restrict quarterbacks to staying in the pocket. If the Saints get a top-tier edge rusher to go across from Chase Young next season, the team may have something going for them in terms of a pass rush. 

The young secondary played well. Kool-Aid McKinstrey and Quincy Riley both looked prepared and ready to cover a better group of receivers, as neither allowed any big plays. Even more noteworthy, the Bucs attempted two fades on Kool-Aid, neither of which they were able to complete. He was able to completely shut both down to the point where he had two very good opportunities for interceptions, and the receivers had to play defense. As the season goes on, I’d like to see Kool-Aid turn opportunities like that into turnovers, especially if the offense won’t be able to do much themselves.

The Negatives


If I wanted to, I could write up negatives for every single person at every position on offense, but I don’t want to waste my Sunday night doing so. Instead, I am going to focus on the biggest negatives on this side of the ball and how I feel they will affect this season. 

Rashid Shaheed looked like a pure “speed guy” out there. Although you may not see it from the box score if you were unable to watch the game, Rashid Shaheed had a horrid performance today. He had two catches that led to fumbles called on the field returned for touchdowns, with one being overturned to incomplete, and the other a touchdown that the refs wrongfully said they “blew dead”. This preseason, everyone at training camp discussed how well Shaheed was doing, and that this season might be his breakout season as a do-it-all receiver. I was so overhyped from all of these discussions that I believed he could even potentially surpass Olave as the WR1. Clearly, I’m an idiot and have no clue what I was thinking there. This game showed that Shaheed, a great speed threat, may never be a go-to guy for quarterbacks to rely on when needing tough catches. Do I think Shaheed is one of the best speedy receivers in the league? Absolutely. Do I love Shaheed and want him to stay on the Saints? Yes. However, I feel it is in the Saints' best interest, as well as Shaheed’s, to trade him to anyone offering a 4th or better. This obviously decreases the explosiveness of this receiver room, but provides more opportunities for Vele to step up alongside Olave. For Shaheed, it also means he could be traded to a contender and used for what he does best, scoring on deep balls. 

Spencer Rattler had another tough game with multiple turnovers, one fumble on a scramble (second straight game with a fumble on the first offensive drive), and an interception for a touchdown thrown straight into a defensive end’s arms. Did I mention that both turnovers were forced by the same person, Anthony Nelson? I didn’t because it doesn’t really matter outside of trivial means, but it was definitely an impressive performance for him. Anyways, outside of the turnovers for Spencer Rattler, his performance wasn’t “terrible”. He had 136 yards through 15 completions on 21 attempts. I do not think at all that this offense is bad solely because of him, because he has shown positive moments, and I do believe he could succeed with better personnel around him. That being said, he wasn’t playing well enough to keep Tyler Shough off the field. Kellen Moore said he was looking for a spark by putting in Shough, but is unsure of who will be the starter next week. In my opinion, you can’t really afford to go back to Rattler after benching him mid-game, and I think you have to go and see what Shough can do the rest of the year, good or bad. 

There are definitely many more negatives to discuss, such as Trevor Penning showing he isn’t worth being brought back, the penalties galore, and don’t even get me started on Juwan Johnson (if I could roll my eyes through the screen for you, I would). This Saints team is in desperate need of young talent, yet it only possesses five draft picks for the upcoming draft. Mickey Loomis and the rest of the Saints’ front office have put them in a terrible spot, and it is hard to see a way for Kellen Moore to claw this team out of it quickly. 

 

Closing and Team MVPs


 I really don’t know what to say about this Saints team. There are only about 10 or so guys that I’d keep right now if everyone were a free agent, and none of them are “stars”... yet, at least. I am excited to see what Tyler Shough has in him, and I like that Kellen Moore is willing to make the move, even if it doesn’t end up working out. The Saints now have the #1 overall pick in the draft, so if they lose out, so be it. The rest of this season is for figuring out if Shough is decent enough to prevent the team from drafting another quarterback in April, and I am praying the team doesn’t have to. 


Offensive MVP: NONE. 


Defensive MVP: Chase Young. (great to see)


Special Teams MVP: NONE. (Good to see Blake make one though)


A quick share helps us a lot!

Lawsuit on LA Tech Delays Release of 2026 Sun Belt Football Schedule

By Abdul Abusada • March 3, 2026
By this time in very early March, all Sun Belt Conference teams, including Louisiana and ULM, are usually made aware of their upcoming season's full football schedule. The Sun Belt typically has its football schedule out by March 1st, allowing teams and supporters alike to find out who, where, and when they will play come football season. This year, however, things are looking a little different, as we may not see a definite 2026 Sun Belt football schedule for a few more weeks, if not months. How much sooner we will get it all falls in the hands of the outcome of an ongoing lawsuit. As you might recall, Texas State officially announced that they would leave the Sun Belt for the Pac-12 on June 30, 2025, a move that would take place on July 1, 2026. This meant that the 2025-2026 athletic year was Texas State's final journey in the SBC. When it's all said and done, this means that the conference would need to find a new 14th member to avoid dropping to 13 members come the 2026-2027 athletic year. A couple of weeks later, the conference officially announced on July 15, 2025, that Louisiana Tech would be filling the void left by Texas State. The problem to be determined, however, was whether LA Tech would be able to join in 2026 or 2027. Joining in 2026 would make this an easy transition for the SBC, keeping them at 14 members with no gaps. But a delay to 2027 would mean the conference gets stuck at 13 teams for the 2026-2027 athletic year, and right now, the there is a potential that this could be the case. Louisiana Tech, of course, wants to get this move done sooner rather than later. So, the school wants to join in 2026, and the Sun Belt doesn't suffer a gap year. A win-win for both, so what's the hold up? Not too long after the announcements went public, Conference USA, the conference in which LA Tech has been a member of since 2013, filed a lawsuit against the University of Louisiana System (which oversees Louisiana Tech). They accused the school and the system of violating Louisiana public records tied to the school leaving for the Sun Belt Conference. CUSA claims that a letter written on May 27, 2025, by Louisiana Tech President Jim Henderson, which referenced the school's move to the Sun Belt, suggested LA Tech made the decision to leave the CUSA earlier than its official notice on July 14th, which came after the conference's June 27 revenue distribution. Under Conference USA bylaws, schools that notify withdrawal after the payout can keep that year's (2025-2026) distribution but must forfeit the next two. However, the actual timeline challenges this claim, suggesting the date of the letter was incorrect by clerical error. As mentioned above, the Sun Belt's void that Louisiana Tech ended up filling did not actually exist until June 30th when Texas State officially announced its departure, and SBC officials didn't vote on the move to bring in Louisiana Tech until mid-July, after which they sent a formal invitation for the school to join. Thus, there is no logical explanation as to why Louisiana Tech would have a letter written in May about the school moving over to the Sun Belt. CUSA also accused the school of improperly withholding documents from an August public records, though the school had already provided major materials including the Sun Belt agreement. Louisiana Tech University has denied any wrongdoing, stating that they have complied with both conference bylaws and state law. With the lawsuit still ongoing and a timeline not established, it has put the Sun Belt Conference and its teams in a bind, and could mean waiting a few more weeks, if not months, until seeing a definite finalized schedule. While the conference could put out a schedule which either does or does not include Louisiana Tech, it does not want to take the risk of having to change it all up if the result of the lawsuit changes those plans. Even if the Sun Belt were to release a schedule now, it would not be definite until the lawsuit is over and an outcome is obtained. It is also important to keep in mind that the Sun Belt Conference is the last remaining Division-I conference with divisions. With the conference currently (including Texas State) at 14 members, it has them separated equally into two geographical East/West divisions. With Texas State's departure bringing the West down to 6 teams, Louisiana Tech is supposed to be the filler to that. But the conference could be forced to ditch the unique divisional setup if Louisiana Tech cannot join in 2026, as the conference would be at an odd number of teams. The Sun Belt currently utilizes the East/West divisional setup to determine who makes the Sun Belt Conference Championship, with the winner of each division taking the honors of doing so. Other conferences like the Mid-American Conference and Mountain West Conference are also facing similar delayed schedule releasing situations due to conference realignments, but the Sun Belt Conference (and Conference USA) are the two where uncertainty still boils. For now, our three Louisiana schools (Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, ULM Warhawks, and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs) will have to wait a little longer to find out their 12-game schedule for the 2026 football season.

New Orleans Saints vs Atlanta Falcons 2025 Week 18 Recap

By Greyson Jenkins • January 4, 2026
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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