A dominant 29-6 win by the New Orleans Saints over the New York Jets inside the Superdome on Sunday gave the Saints a three-game winning streak. That’s the first time that’s happened since Weeks 15-17 of the 2022 season. The Saints improved their record to 5-10 with the win, their last home game of the year.
New Orleans had some trouble converting scoring chances into touchdowns early on, but otherwise dominated the game from the start. A Taysom Hill fumble on the second play allowed the Jets to grab a 3-0 lead, but was just a hiccup in their most complete performance of the year. The Saints achieved season-highs in points scored, total yards, rushing yards allowed, and sacks recorded. New Orleans had 412 total yards, with a season-best 328 through the air. In turn, they held the Jets to only 195 total yards and 2 of 15 on third downs.
Rookie safety Jonas Sanker had an interception, while Chase Young grabbed a fumble recovery. Taysom Hill was responsible for a season-best 116 offensive yards on a career-high 16 touches and had another touchdown reception called back. The offense rolled through the Jets despite being without Alvin Kamara and two other backs along with starting receiver Devaughn Vele. Plenty of players stepped up in the effort. Here’s a reverse look at the good, bad, and ugly from a refreshing win.
The Ugly: Injuries
New Orleans pulled out this win against a Jets team that is probably the worst in the NFL. The underlying fact is that they did it without Alvin Kamara, Devaughn Vele, Devin Neal, and Kendre Miller. Vele, Neal, and Miller are out for the rest of the year. Kamara missed his fourth straight game, with a legitimate question whether he’ll play either of the final two weeks. A bright side is that this does give coaches a chance to evaluate several young players who might not have otherwise played much. The downside is that the injuries keep mounting, thinning out an already depleted team in several spots. Bryan Bresee left Sunday’s game with what looked like a potentially bad knee injury.
The Bad: Dante Pettis
Since the trade of Rashid Shaheed in November, Mason Tipton has had a few nice kickoff returns. Unfortunately, Pettis has added absolutely nothing on either kick or punt returns. This has allowed opponents to kick away from Tipton, with Pettis not able to give the Saints any kind of field position advantage whatsoever. Captain Fair Catch has averaged a pathetic 23.3 yards on kickoffs and a laughable 4.3 yards on punt returns. Against the Jets, he wasn’t even that good. New Orleans started three drives inside their own 10 because Pettis was unable to get any kind of decent return.
The Good: Saints Pass Rush
New Orleans had eight sacks of Jets quarterback Brady Cook, three more than they’ve had in any other game in 2025. They got those sacks from seven different players, pressuring Cook from several angles and never letting him establish any kind of rhythm or comfort level. Albeit against a pathetic offense, Saints pressure made life easier for a swarming and aggressive secondary.
Cam Jordan provided the defensive spark in the first half, recording 2 sacks to improve his team-high total to 8.5 takedowns. Chase Young had a sack to kill a Jets drive in the fourth quarter to essentially clinch the win. It was his eighth sack along with several pressures in 10 games. Isaiah Stalbird opened the third quarter with a beautiful blitz to end a Jets drive. Alontae Taylor, Jonah Williams, and Chris Rumph got into the act with a sack each to put New York in long yardage third downs. A Nathan Shepherd third quarter sack forced a fumble that Young recovered and would lead to a Saints field goal. Additionally, Jonathan Bullard and Justin Reid tipped throws at the line of scrimmage on rushes, while Carl Granderson and just about every member of the front seven flushed Cook from the pocket and constantly disrupted the timing of the Jets offense.
The Good: Tyler Shough-to-Chris Olave connection
Shough had another outstanding game, throwing for 308 yards while completing 32 of 49 attempts without an interception. Olave was nearly as good, catching 10 of 16 targets for 148 yards and 2 scores. Shough became the first Saints quarterback to throw for over 300 yards in 34 games and has now won more games and thrown for more yards and touchdowns than any rookie in Saints history. Olave had his career-high in receiving yards while equaling a career-best in catches and touchdowns while surpassing 1,000 yards for the third time in his four years.
Every bit of those yardage totals were needed from both players. This was a New Orleans offense that was without Alvin Kamara and their two other backs along with starting wideout Devaughn Vele, who had been a trusted target for the rookie quarterback. Shough did a nice job with rifled strikes to Juwan Johnson and secondary options like Mason Tipton and Kevin Austin. It was his connection to Olave that was the backbone of the attack. This was just as importantly a glimpse into the Saints future, as the potential franchise quarterback continues to develop and a gifted receiver flashes the potential of a featured weapon.