The Saints finally put a preseason win on the board under Kellen Moore, edging the Dallas Cowboys 27-24, and the result mattered less than what it revealed about the roster battles still playing out in New Orleans.
Friday night offered a sharper version of the Saints than the one that showed up in the 34-0 loss to the Rams six days earlier. The energy was different.
The contact was better. And the clearest proof came on the ground, where New Orleans rolled up 169 rushing yards at 5.3 yards per carry, including 6.6 in the first half, and finished with three rushing touchdowns.
Dallas, by comparison, managed just 3.5 yards per carry. The penalty count also cleaned up in a hurry, dropping from 12 against Los Angeles to four against the Cowboys.
The final roster decisions, due Sunday when the team must get down to 53 players, still loom large. The backup quarterback job and the kicking competition both got some needed clarity against Dallas.
Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson each looked far more settled after both struggled against the Rams. Rattler completed 8 of 10 passes for 79 yards and added a rushing touchdown, while Wilson went 9 of 12 for 93 yards and led the game-winning drive. Even so, the edge appears to belong to Rattler.
At kicker, Daniel Carlson may have sealed it with a 53-yard field goal to break the late tie. That kick felt like the decisive moment in the competition, and the job now looks to be his.
There was also encouraging work from the Saints’ rookie wideouts, especially with first-round pick Jordyn Tyson set to miss significant time with a hamstring injury. Sixth-rounder Barion Brown from LSU turned two jet sweeps into big gains, including a 7-yard touchdown, while fourth-rounder Bryce Lance from North Dakota State made a pair of catches in traffic. Both also helped spring the run game with key downfield blocks.
With Tyson sidelined, New Orleans needs its depth at receiver to show up fast. Brown and Lance made a strong case that they’re ready to help right away.
In Other News...
Saints Backfield Suddenly Has A New Reason For Optimism
Within days of arriving in New Orleans, Zamir White was already part of the conversation in the Saints backfield. The running back came over from the San Francisco 49ers in a player-for-player trade and got on the field quickly enough to make an impression in the Saints final preseason game, a 27-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys. With injuries thinning out the room, the team needed signs that the ground game could still hold together, and White offered one right away.
He needed only his second carry in a Saints uniform to find the end zone, breaking off an 11-yard touchdown that added a little more life to a rushing attack that had been searching for stability. The performance came with contributions from several backs, which is exactly the kind of depth New Orleans has been trying to build while navigating the injury issues around it. For a unit that entered the preseason with questions, Whites fast start gave the Saints a reason to feel better about what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Cutdown Fallout Starts With One Receiver Saints Fans Just Saw
The Cowboys 27-24 preseason loss to the Saints also pushed their roster decisions into sharper focus, and rookie wide receiver Jordan Hudson is one of the first names drawing attention. Hudson had only limited production in exhibition play, and with cutdown time arriving soon, his path to the 53-man roster looks narrow after a summer spent trying to carve out a role.
What comes next for Hudson remains the real question. He could still land on a practice squad, either in Dallas or elsewhere, or choose to take advantage of the transfer option that would allow him to return to college football for another season. For Saints fans who just saw him across the field, he may end up being one of those preseason names worth remembering even after the roster math is done. [Read more 🡒]
Saints End Preseason With Two Roster Questions Suddenly Worth Watching
The Saints closed the preseason with a 27-24 win over the Cowboys, and the result came with the kind of late-August details coaches like to see: multiple rushing touchdowns, two field goals from Daniel Carlson and enough productivity on both sides of the ball to make the final tune-up feel worthwhile. It was the sort of game that offered a glimpse of depth rather than a clean answer, with Zach Wilson and Spencer Rattler both among the notable contributors as New Orleans sorted through its final evaluations.
Now the attention shifts from the scoreboard to the roster, where a couple of position battles have become suddenly more interesting after the way the preseason wrapped. The Saints still have decisions to make before the regular season arrives, and the encouraging part is that several players gave the staff something to think about in a game that mattered more for standing than for style. [Read more 🡒]