Tag: Saints

Illness strikes Falcons, but QB Kirk Cousins to play vs. Saints

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive lineman David Onyemata woke up feeling ill Sunday morning but will play in the season finale against the New Orleans Saints, the team said.

Inside linebacker Ronnie Harrison was added to the game status report as out due to illness. Several players were sick during the week but will play.

The Falcons (7-9) and Saints (6-10) will not make the playoffs, but their game in Atlanta will determine the winner of the NFC South. Due to tiebreakers, the Carolina Panthers (8-9) will win the division and head to the playoffs with a Falcons’ victory. Should the Saints win, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9) will be the No. 4 seed in the NFC playoffs.

The Falcons will be without Harrison, punter Trenton Gill, defensive lineman Brandon Dorlus, offensive lineman Michael Jerrell, and wide receivers Casey Washington and Malik Heath.

Out for the Saints are defensive back Ugo Amadi, quarterback Spencer Rattler, wide receiver Chris Olave, running back Alvin Kamara, offensive lineman Xavier Truss and defensive linemen Bryan Bresee and Nathan Shepherd.

–Field Level Media

Reports: Saints WR Chris Olave out with blood clot

Posted on | by Field Level Media

New Orleans Saints star wide receiver Chris Olave will miss Sunday’s season finale at Atlanta due to a blood clot in his lung, per multiple reports Thursday.

Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reported that the clot was caught early and that Olave’s “long-term outlook is good.”

Olave, 25, did not practice Wednesday due to what the team called an illness.

The Saints (6-10) selected Olave with the 11th overall pick of the 2022 NFL Draft.

He reached career highs this season for receptions (100), yards (1,163) and touchdowns (nine).

–Field Level Media

Tyler Shough mounts comeback as Saints thwart Titans

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Rookie Tyler Shough passed for a season-high 333 yards and two touchdowns and the New Orleans Saints won their fourth consecutive game, defeating the Tennessee Titans 34-26 on Sunday in Nashville, Tenn.

Shough completed 22-of-27 and one of his touchdowns went to Chris Olave, who finished with eight catches for 119 yards. Juwan Johnson added four catches for a career-high 95 yards as the Saints (6-10) improved to 5-3 with Shough as a starter.

Cam Ward had his fourth consecutive two-touchdown game, passing for 251 yards for the Titans (3-13).

Titans Pro Bowl receiver/return specialist Chimere Dike set an NFL rookie record for all-purpose yards, surpassing the 2,317 yards that Tim Brown had with the Raiders in 1988.

The Saints received the second-half kickoff and drove to Shough’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Olave to get within 20-17. Joey Slye kicked a 28-yard field goal, but Charlie Smyth answered with a 57-yarder, leaving the Titans with a 23-20 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Slye’s 58-yarder increased the lead to six points early in the fourth quarter, but Shough’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Austin Jr. to put the Saints ahead for the first time, 27-26 with 6:22 remaining.

Audric Estime, who rushed 14 times for 94 yards, had a 32-yard scoring run to push the lead to eight with 3:44 remaining.

Slye kicked field goals of 50 yards and 38 yards to give Tennessee a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

On fourth and 2 Ward threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Chig Okonkwo to increase the lead to 13-0. The Saints got their first points when Smyth made a 56-yard field goal, and Chase Young took the ball away from Ward while sacking him and ran 33 yards for a touchdown that trimmed the lead to 13-10.

Ward threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Elic Ayomanor with 13 seconds left in the second quarter, increasing the lead to 20-10 at halftime.

–Field Level Media

Rookie QBs Cam Ward, Tyler Shough face off in Nashville

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Tennessee Titans made quarterback Cam Ward the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft in April.

Tyler Shough had to wait until the second round and the 40th overall pick before the New Orleans Saints made him the third quarterback drafted. In between, the New York Giants used the 25th pick to grab Jaxson Dart.

The gap between the performances of Ward and Shough as rookies hasn’t been nearly as big as the one at the draft. Come Sunday, they’ll be closer than ever as they face off as professionals for the first time when the Saints visit the Titans in Nashville.

Ward has been the Titans’ starter from Day 1 — from a 1-11 record through November to a 2-1 December that has showcased development by the player and his team.

Shough was beaten out by second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler in a close competition during training camp. The Saints (5-10) lost seven of their eight games before Shough replaced Rattler as the starter. New Orleans has gone 4-3 behind Shough and built a three-game winning streak.

It was common knowledge long before the draft that Ward was going to be the top pick, but Shough’s prospects were far less certain. He was unusually old (25) for a draft prospect and started 32 of the 42 games he played in during a seven-year collegiate career split between three schools.

“My whole thought process (leading up to the draft),” Shough said, “was I’m going to have fun throughout it and be myself, show what I can do and just go from there. I think everything will take care of itself.

“I think you can’t really get caught up in all the pre-draft rankings. It all changes. (The teams’) job is to evaluate and your job is to go out there, perform and execute.”

Shough has completed 66.4% of his passes for 1,792 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. His passer rating is 86.5.

Ward has completed 60.2% of his passes for a franchise rookie record 2,866 yards with 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His passer rating is 79.1, but he delivered his first 100-plus ratings in the last two games, including a season-best 122.3 in Sunday’s 26-9 victory against Kansas City. He has authored his only two-touchdown passing efforts in each of the last three games.

“I’ve just got to be consistent,” Ward said. “I’ve got to do what I need to do to win football games, put my teammates in a good situation to help them and really just keep playing clean football on offense like we’ve been doing.”

Ward was the headliner in a rookie class that leads a youth movement in Tennessee. But wide receiver Chimere Dike, a fourth-round pick, has set himself apart by leading the NFL in all-purpose yards (151.3 per game) to earn a starting spot in the Pro Bowl.

“You get to see what guys can do early,” Ward said of the Titans giving playing time to rookies right away. “You get a sense of their first year, what they’re really good at, and what we also got to work on.”

One rookie who won’t contribute during the last two games is cornerback Marcus Harris, the sixth-round pick who interim head coach Mike McCoy said will not play again this season because of a knee injury suffered against the Chiefs. Harris was the only Titan to miss practice Wednesday.

Three Saints starters — running back Alvin Kamara (knee/ankle), guard Cesar Ruiz (ankle) and defensive tackle Bryan Bresee (knee) — did not practice Wednesday. New Orleans coach Kellen Moore has declared Bresee won’t play against the Titans.

–Field Level Media

Charlie Smyth’s leg, Chris Olave’s hands help Saints defeat Jets

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Charlie Smyth tied a franchise record with five field goals, Chris Olave caught two touchdown passes from different quarterbacks and the New Orleans defense didn’t allow a touchdown as the Saints defeated the visiting New York Jets 29-6 on Sunday afternoon.

Tyler Shough had season highs of 32 completions, 49 attempts and 308 yards. The rookie threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Olave, who finished with 10 catches for a season-best 148 yards.

The Saints (5-10) have won three straight games and are 4-3 since Shough became the starter.

Rookie Brady Cook made his second start for the Jets (3-12) and completed 22 of 35 passes for 188 yards with one interception. He was sacked eight times for 57 yards.

Neither team was able to find the end zone for nearly three quarters until Shough and Olave connected for their touchdown, giving New Orleans a 16-6 edge at the end of the third quarter. That completed a 12-play, 93-yard drive.

Rookie Jonas Sanker intercepted Cook and returned it to the Jets’ 44, leading to Smyth’s record-tying 39-yard field goal with 5:17 remaining. Taysom Hill threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Olave to complete the scoring with 1:54 left.

In addition to his 38 yards passing, Hill rushed 12 times for 42 yards and caught four passes from Shough for 36 yards.

Hill fumbled on the second play from scrimmage and Qwan’tez Stiggers recovered for the Jets at the New Orleans 37. New York stalled at the 11 and Nick Folk kicked a 29-yard field goal.

The Saints drove to Smyth’s 35-yard field goal to forge a tie that held up through the end of the first quarter.

On the second play of the second quarter, Smyth broke the tie by kicking a 49-yard field goal.

Folk’s 36-yarder knotted the score at 6, but Smyth answered with a 36-yarder with 1:31 left in the half. Smyth missed a 61-yarder as time expired, leaving New Orleans with a 9-6 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Rookie QBs in spotlight for Jets-Saints Week 16 meeting

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The New Orleans Saints have gotten a lift since turning to rookie quarterback Tyler Shough as a starter.

The New York Jets (3-11) are hoping to get a lift from rookie quarterback Brady Cook when he makes his second start against the Saints on Sunday in New Orleans.

The Saints (4-10) have won two straight for the first time this season and have won three of their last five. Shough, a second-round draft choice, is 3-3 as the starter.

“Tyler has been steady and composed,” New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore said. “He stays steady the entire game and when the opportunity presents itself he lets it rip. He has given us a great opportunity to win.”

In the Saints’ 20-17 victory against visiting Carolina last week, Shough directed a second-quarter touchdown drive that was New Orleans’ longest drive of the season in terms of plays (17), yards (95) and time of possession (11:22).

The Saints trailed 17-10 when they got the ball with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Shough drove them 78 yards in seven plays to a tying touchdown. They got the ball again at their 9-yard line with 55 seconds left and Shough drove them 62 yards in eight plays to Charlie Smyth’s winning 47-yard field goal with two seconds remaining.

“I’m still learning every single week,” Shough said. “We’ve been putting in a lot of extra work after practice.”

Shough has played the last three weeks without his top offensive weapon, running back Alvin Kamara, who has knee and ankle injuries and missed practice Wednesday. Moore already ruled out Kamara’s replacement, rookie Devin Neal, who injured a hamstring against the Panthers, and Devaughn Vele, who has 19 catches for 239 yards and one touchdown in the last four games, but injured a shoulder last week.

Evan Hull, who has 10 carries for 31 yards this season, and Audric Estime (6-for-22) are the only healthy running backs on the active roster.

Cook completed 22 of 33 passes for 176 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions in his first start, a 48-20 loss at Jacksonville last Sunday.

“I want to continue to evaluate him and see exactly how he’s going to operate on a consistent basis,” Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said of the undrafted rookie from Missouri.

Starter Justin Fields (knee) has missed the last two games and primary backup Tyrod Taylor (groin) missed last week. Glenn said the two veterans will be evaluated in practice this week to determine who will be Cook’s backup Sunday.

“I want to make sure that we get the person that’s going to be the healthiest and be able to operate as the (No.) 2,” Glenn said.

Another significant change came Monday when Glenn announced that he had fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. Passing game coordinator Chris Harris will serve in Wilks’ former role for the remainder of the season.

New York, which allowed 438 yards to the Jaguars, ranks 30th in the NFL in scoring defense (28.4 points per game) and last in takeaways (three), having yet to make an interception.

“He’s already putting in his DNA as far as what he wants,” linebacker Quincy Williams said of Harris.

Glenn said that three Jets starters that missed practice Wednesday – tight end Mason Taylor (neck), linebacker Kiko Mauigoa (neck) and safety Tony Adams (groin) – will not play Sunday.

–Field Level Media

Late FG drive lets Saints complete season sweep of Panthers

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Tyler Shough passed for 272 yards and a touchdown and helped set up Charlie Smyth’s go-ahead field goal, and the host New Orleans Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers 20-17 on Sunday.

Shough and the Saints drove 62 yards in 51 seconds before giving way to Smyth for a 47-yard field goal, which split the uprights with two seconds left.

The Saints (4-10) swept the Panthers (7-7), having won 17-7 on Nov. 9 in Charlotte.

Bryce Young threw for 163 yards and rushed for 49 to lead the Panthers, who fell into a tie with Tampa Bay for first place in the NFC South. Carolina and the Buccaneers face each other twice in the final three weeks, beginning with a game in Charlotte next Sunday.

The Saints started their drive at their own 9 with 57 seconds left, enough time for Shough to complete three passes in a row. Then Shough ran up the middle for 4 yards and Carolina rookie Lathan Ransom hit him during his slide. The unnecessary roughness tacked on 15 yards and put New Orleans in field goal range.

The Panthers received the second-half kickoff and Young soon tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker, increasing Carolina’s lead to 17-7. Smyth’s 42-yard field goal trimmed the lead to seven points at the end of the third quarter.

Carolina drove into scoring range, but Chuba Hubbard was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-1 from the New Orleans 35 with 10:56 to play. The Saints moved to the Panthers’ 23, but turned the ball over on downs with 6:53 remaining.

New Orleans forced a punt and took over at its 22 with 4:37 left, and Shough completed six passes, the last of which was a 12-yard touchdown to Chris Olave to tie the score with 2:29 remaining.

On their first possession the Panthers marched 74 yards in 13 plays and Dowdle ran 4 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead that held up through the end of the first quarter.

New Orleans had its longest scoring drive of the season in terms of plays (17), yards (95) and time of possession (11:22) and rookie Devin Neal ran 4 yards for a touchdown that tied the score at 7.

Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a 40-yard field goal with 21 seconds remaining in the period, giving Carolina a 10-7 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Panthers’ Dave Canales sees Saints game as ‘championship opportunity’

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Carolina Panthers had a very productive bye week.

While they were resting and recharging for the final four games of the season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were losing to the New Orleans Saints and dropping into a tie with the Panthers (7-6) for first place in the NFC South.

Carolina can stay in first place by beating the Saints on Sunday in New Orleans.

“Every game is a championship opportunity,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said. “We have one right in front of us on the road against a familiar opponent.”

Even though the Saints (3-10) are tied for the fourth-worst record in the NFL, no one knows better than Carolina that New Orleans shouldn’t be overlooked.

Not only did the Saints beat the Bucs last week, but they went into Charlotte and beat the Panthers on Nov. 9 after Carolina had won four of its last five games.

The Panthers drove for a touchdown on the first possession of the game but didn’t score again. New Orleans had 122 rushing yards, while the Panthers had 73.

“They beat us at our own game,” Canales said, referring to his preference for being the more physical team in the run game on both sides of the ball.

Bryce Young passed for just 124 yards with an interception and no touchdowns. But the Panthers are 2-1 since that game, with Young passing for 448 and 206 yards in wins against the Falcons on Nov. 16 and Rams on Nov. 30, respectively. He had three touchdown passes and no interceptions in each contest.

“We haven’t had the consistency I would like to see from the entire (offensive) group, and certainly Bryce is a part of that,” Canales said. “That’s the challenge that we have in front of us, and that’s what we’ve been attacking for weeks now.”

The Saints’ victory against the Panthers started their best stretch of the season, as they have split their last four games after starting 1-8.

“We’re getting better,” New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore said. “We’re playing cleaner football. We’re executing better on first and second down, and that’s making things easier on third down. The defense is creating turnovers, and we’re taking care of the football.”

In the rain against the Bucs, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough had the fewest passing yards of his five starts (144), but he had a season-high 55 rushes on seven carries and ran for two touchdowns.

“There’s a lot to continue to build upon,” Shough said. “It’s the NFL. Whether you’re fighting for a (playoff) spot (or not), what you put on film matters. That’s the mindset of everybody, and myself specifically. We feel like we’re building and continuing to get better. You want to play your best against division opponents.”

Two Saints starters — running back Alvin Kamara, who has missed the last two games because of knee and ankle injuries, and safety Justin Reid, who missed last week’s game because of a knee ailment — missed practice Wednesday. Devin Neal, who replaced Kamara, was limited because of an abdominal injury suffered against the Bucs.

Another starter, right tackle Taliese Fuaga (ankle), returned to practice on a limited basis after missing the last game. Asim Richards, who started in Fuaga’s place last week, did not practice because of an ankle injury suffered against Tampa Bay.

Two Carolina starters — center Cade Mays (ankle) and linebacker Christian Rozeboom (hip/hamstring) — were full participants Wednesday after missing the last two games. Starting cornerback Jaycee Horn, who missed the game against the Rams, remained in concussion protocol but did participate on a limited basis.

–Field Level Media

Injury-riddled Bucs bid for season sweep of Saints

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won just one game since defeating the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 26.

The Buccaneers (7-5) are still in first place in the NFC South, however they can increase their half-game lead over the idle Carolina Panthers (7-6) when they host the Saints (2-10) on Sunday afternoon.

Tampa Bay owned a 6-2 record after posting a 23-3 win in New Orleans. The Buccaneers lost their next three games before getting back on track with a 20-17 victory against the visiting Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.

“You want to control your own destiny,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said. “You don’t want to sit and look at scores every Sunday. If you can control your own destiny and get (injured) guys back in the process and acclimate them the right way and they can help contribute, that’s all you can ask for.”

The Buccaneers have been dealing with injuries to key players, however quarterback Baker Mayfield played through a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder against the Cardinals. Running back Bucky Irving returned from a seven-game absence due to foot and shoulder injuries to gain 81 yards from scrimmage, and wide receiver Chris Godwin Jr. had his most productive game of an injury-plagued season by making three catches for 78 yards.

Star wide receiver Mike Evans, who is on injured reserve and has missed the last five games because of a broken collarbone, participated in the team’s walk-through on a limited basis Wednesday.

Bowles said he’ll have a better idea where Evans stands after he goes through a regular practice.

The beat-up Tampa Bay offense wasn’t at its best in the first game against the Saints, but the defense created four turnovers — including Anthony Nelson’s 3-yard interception return for a touchdown. Chase McLaughlin drilled three field goals of at least 50 yards.

“Any time we play them it’s always who wins the turnover battle,” Bowles said. “Every time, records are out the window. They play hard, we play hard. We know each other pretty well. Whoever wins the turnover battle wins the game.”

The first meeting marked New Orleans’ switch from Spencer Rattler to rookie Tyler Shough at quarterback. Shough replaced Rattler in the third quarter and completed 17 of 30 passes for 128 yards with an interception.

Shough has started the last four games and has shown gradual improvement.

In a 21-17 loss at Miami last Sunday, he passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns, rallying the Saints from a 16-point deficit to within 19-17 with a chance to tie with a two-point conversion in the final two minutes. His pass on the attempted conversion was intercepted and returned the other way for two points.

“Tyler’s doing a nice job,” New Orleans head coach Kellen Moore said. “There are highs and lows in every game for every player. He’s gotten better every step of the way. His resiliency showed up (against Miami). He’s gotten a lot of great experience and he continues to grow.”

Four Saints starters missed practice Wednesday – running back Alvin Kamara (knee/ankle), wide receiver Chris Olave (back), tackle Taliese Fuaga (ankle) and safety Justin Reid (knee).

–Field Level Media

As Dolphins rise, Saints strive to stop freefall

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The Miami Dolphins finally are headed in a positive direction.

The Dolphins (4-7) were one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL when they lost seven of their first nine games.

But then they routed the Buffalo Bills 30-13 on Nov. 9, beat the Washington Commanders 16-13 in overtime in Madrid and now come off their bye week looking for a third consecutive win when they host the New Orleans Saints (2-9) on Sunday in Miami Gardens, Fla.

“The only way that you start a season with more losses than wins and then win games after that is guys learn, guys don’t quit and guys are focused on the right stuff,” Miami head coach Mike McDaniel said. “I think we’ve learned a lot in all of that.”

The Dolphins have won consecutive games for the first time this season, but McDaniel said continued improvement will remain a week-to-week challenge.

“What lessons have we learned that we are going to apply to the Saints?” he said. “That will be the story for the remainder of the season. How well we focus on each individual opponent will have a direct correlation on our won-loss record.”

McDaniel said the leadership and focus on improvement from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has been “absolutely necessary and monumental for our team.”

“The whole team has to keep moving with confidence in one direction,” McDaniel said. “I think our team’s growth in confidence and growth in style of play is a direct reflection and can be attributed to what Tua is doing.”

What running back De’Von Achane has done has been important, as well. Achane, who had 120 rushing yards and 45 receiving yards against the Commanders, is averaging 115.5 yards from scrimmage.

New Orleans has a similar dual-threat running back in Alvin Kamara, but he missed practice Wednesday because of a lingering sore ankle and a knee injury that knocked him out of a 24-10 home loss to the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday.

If Kamara can’t play, that further would weaken an offense that didn’t score a touchdown against the Falcons and hasn’t produced as many as 20 points in any of the past six games.

“That’s not the formula,” said head coach Kellen Moore, who’s also the offensive play caller. “We have to run the ball consistently well on first and second down and get in more favorable third downs. We have to finish drives with touchdowns. That’s the most important factor. We’ve had moments. It’s just about consistency, which will determine our ability to sustain it over the course of a game.”

The Saints are last in the NFL in percentage of touchdowns scored in the red zone. They made three trips into the red zone against Atlanta and came away with a total of three points.

“You’re not going to win when you don’t score any touchdowns with the opportunities that you have,” rookie quarterback Tyler Shough said. “Scoring is difficult and when you have an opportunity it becomes even more important to take advantage. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth when you can’t finish.”

The offense’s failures were exacerbated by Blake Grupe missing two of three field-goal attempts, leading to his release Tuesday.

New Orleans signed Cade York to the practice roster, joining Charlie Smyth, who has yet to kick in an NFL game, in a competition to see which kicker will be active Sunday.

Three other important offensive players — leading wide receiver Chris Olave (back), rookie running back Devin Neal (ankle), who is Kamara’s primary backup, and starting right tackle Taliese Fuaga (ankle) — were limited in practice Wednesday. Seven Dolphins were limited but no one missed practice.

–Field Level Media