The Saints aren’t going to make the playoffs this season, but they are ending the year on the right note.
Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough had his first 300-yard day in the NFL in a 29-6 win over the Jets on Sunday. It was the third straight win for New Orleans and the latest sign that the Saints will head into the offseason with a quarterback they can build their offense around in 2026.
Shough was 32-of-49 for 308 yards and a touchdown to wide receiver Chris Olave during the victory. The Saints are now 4-3 since Shough took over as the starter and the second-round pick had a lot of success going Olave’s way this week. Olave finished with 10 catches for 148 yards and the Saints also made good use of tight ends Juwan Johnson and Taysom Hill in the win. Johnson had eight catches for 89 yards and Hill had 78 yards on 16 touches.
Hill also threw a 38-yard touchdown to Olave late in the fourth quarter.
There were also encouraging signs from the pass rush. They got to Jets quarterback Brady Cook for seven sacks over the course of the afternoon, which is a good showing even if it is mitigated by the sorry state of the Jets offense right now.
The Saints will close the season with road trips to Tennessee and Atlanta, so they’ll have a good chance at ending the season with a five-game winning streak and a 7-10 record that looks a lot better than most predicted heading into the season. That’s a good building block for head coach Kellen Moore’s second season.
The Jets don’t have too many of those for their first-year head coach, but Aaron Glenn will try to find a few in the final two weeks.
