The New Orleans Saints made it three straight wins after a dominant 29-6 victory over the New York Jets. With a 4-3 record under rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, New Orleans is hitting the ground running to end the 2025 season. While they are already eliminated from the playoffs for this season and are collecting \u201cmeaningless\u201d wins, a strong finish to the season can help bring momentum into 2026.<\/p>\n
From a catchy theme song for their starting rookie quarterback by @BayouBun on Twitter to doing the wave in the team\u2019s final home game during a five-win season, Who Dat Nation has taken a big U-Turn in the second half of the season. Losing is hard; it\u2019s hard for the players, it\u2019s hard for the organization, and it\u2019s hard for the fans. Despite another losing season with plenty of season left before getting eliminated from the playoffs, the vibes are high for New Orleans. Fans are showing up for the Saints and fully buying into what Kellen Moore is building, and there is hope for the future. The Superdome was once one of the toughest stadiums in the league to play, and while participation has been here and there, it has taken a hit in recent seasons. With a clear plan finally presented to Who Dat Nation, they are showing up even harder and having a blast despite a losing season.<\/p>\n
Chris Olave had a huge game in the win, bringing in 10 receptions for 148 yards and two touchdowns. The fourth-year wideout\u2019s big day put him over the 1,000-receiving-yard threshold for the third time in his young career and was a much-needed breakout game. Olave has been Tyler Shough\u2019s go-to target, and they have built a strong connection. The Saints picked up the 2022 first-round pick\u2019s fifth-year option before the 2025 draft and are working towards an extension. With a valuable connection with their rookie quarterback and consistency since being drafted, Olave\u2019s big game helped his cause and gets him closer to an extension.<\/p>\n
The Saints\u2019 decision to move on from kicker Blake Grupe was tough, but it needed to happen. Grupe has found success in his new role with the Indianapolis Colts, being 5\/5 in two games, including a 60-yarder. But New Orleans has found success of their own in second-year international player Charlie Smyth. The Irish kicker is 9\/11 on the season, with his only misses coming from pouring rain and 60+ yards out.<\/p>\n
Smyth was the x-factor in the win on Sunday, scoring 17 points in five field goals and two PATs. While he did miss once on the day, it came on a 61-yard attempt that isn\u2019t an automatic conversion for any kicker in the league. Smyth has been a breath of fresh air for the Saints during their win streak, and after earning a three-year contract before the week, could be the team\u2019s starting kicker for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
Shough them picks! The Saints played a complete game on Sunday, and while we can nitpick some negatives, the only one that sticks out is their free-falling draft pick. The black and gold now hold the eighth overall draft pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, five spots higher than the third overall pick they were projected to hold before their win streak.<\/p>\n
The Saints\u2019 winning may hurt their draft position, but in a worst-case scenario of the 10th overall pick, if they win out, New Orleans will look to continue their win streak to give their young players valuable reps and momentum into the 2026 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Orleans Saints made it three straight wins after a dominant 29-6 victory over the New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,896,55,53201,85741,401,15547,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-620002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-orleans","10":"tag-new-orleans-saints","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints-game-information","12":"tag-new-orleans-saints-scores-and-results","13":"tag-new-orleans-saints-news","14":"tag-new-orleans-saints-rumors","15":"tag-neworleans","16":"tag-neworleanssaints","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115763903478606545","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}