Saints vs Broncos Final Preseason Game Recap

who that to the who that nation welcome to the who that say podcast your podcast for the new orleans saints here on the kb radio network i am your host kevin reed in the 2025 nfl preseason for the new orleans saints is in the books we are finished with the preseason as the Saints wrapped up their little

three games here.

against a returning Sean Payton and his Denver Broncos as we fall to that team,

28-19.

And the Saints finish the preseason with an earth-shattering record of 0-2-1.

But it's the preseason.

Who cares?

Honestly,

who cares?

I don't care about that.

quite honestly,

neither should anybody else.

These preseason games are glorified tryouts,

glorified scrimmages.

These aren't live rounds for four straight quarters,

you know.

So it's nothing to hang your head down,

be depressed,

start drinking,

and all this here.

It's the preseason,

people.

You only watch this for evaluation purposes,

to see who.

is deserving to be on the team when we make our cuts on Tuesday to make this

53-man roster and position battles and things of that nature.

So this isn't about wins or losses.

So the zero wins this preseason could care less for reasons like today.

The Saints lost today,

but actually in my mind,

This was an excellent game for the New Orleans Saints.

I actually enjoyed watching this game.

For the most part,

it got a little boring in that second half.

It got a little,

oh my God,

get on with it in the second half.

But for the most part,

it was exciting.

And number one,

because in the first half,

more particularly in the first quarter,

we got nothing but starters.

We got starters that we haven't seen yet this preseason finally.

get game action in the final preseason game on defense on offense um it looked like a actual real game for a moment there i was i was excited to get a sample size of what we're expecting to see for the next 18 weeks but

of course the big question going into this game the elephant in the was the starting quarterback position.

Who was going to come out victorious today?

I don't think judging by today's game is the staple that will say,

yeah,

okay,

we're going in this direction.

I don't think so.

I really think that decision was made not in any game but at practice.

I think the practice has really determined who the starter was going to be.

Now,

there are things you can point out during the game.

At least I could.

Whereas I was like,

well,

he has a better pocket presence than he do.

You know,

but overall,

I think the decision was made.

I really do.

And we're just going on this ride.

This was more of a last chance type deal today.

And given all three quarterbacks an equal opportunity to win this position.

Because at first I was kind of confused.

on how this process was going.

You know,

with Kelly Moore trying to figure out who was going to be his starting quarterback going into this season,

week one.

And

I'm like,

well,

this doesn't seem fair to me.

It just didn't sit right with me.

And now,

three weeks later,

it all makes sense.

You know,

once I put it all together,

and I'm slow,

you probably picked up on it a week ago.

or or at the beginning but it took me a minute but i got it you know everybody got a fair shake everybody got their their reps with the ones everybody got their chance to start everybody got their chance to uh uh

have a two-minute drill and things that it was it was equally equally dished out between these three gentlemen and i respect that

from kellen moore i actually uh uh gave him kudos today you know uh not personally but

just me sitting in my lazy boy i was like you know what this makes sense everybody had their shot nobody should be mad that abc got the start and i didn't i honestly think it was fair so

kudos to him on that now the big job for him is to figure out who's the guy but in these three preseason games,

Rattler all totaled up.

Rattler,

he was 34.

43 attempts,

295 yards,

one touchdown,

one interception.

That's in all three games.

I'm not saying it's a date.

So that's his stats for all three games.

Tyler Shuck,

he was 36 for 53,

333 yards,

one touchdown,

one interception,

and one rushing touchdown,

which he got today against the Broncos.

Statistic rise,

I guess you got to go with

Shuck. You know?

You gotta go with Shuck,

but Shuck threw the ball 10 more times than

Spencer Rattler did,

and only has 40 yards more than him.

So,

take that what you will.

They both only have one touchdown,

and both have one interception.

Now,

Shuck does have the rushing touchdown over him,

but

Spencer Rattler did rush for the two-point conversion last week,

so they both scored on their feet.

Like I said in my preview when I was talking about these two guys,

there's no clear-cut separation.

There's nothing.

I'm talking numbers-wise.

There's no clear-cut separation between the two.

What does separate them apart is the fact that

Spencer Rattler has experience.

He was here longer.

You know,

he has actual

NFL starts.

Last season,

didn't win any games,

but.

He has start.

So he has experience.

And the other glaring factor that is different is the fact that

Spencer Rattler is more comfortable in that pocket.

He is.

It showed today who was more comfortable,

who was more poised in the pocket.

And that was Spencer Rattler.

Tyler Shuck.

He looked like a rookie,

which he is.

He looks like a rookie.

I do see the potential there.

And that's encouraging.

And that's the part that gets me bad.

I just can't wrap my head around how when you say something against Shuck,

and I'm talking to those who fire back at me for saying something against Tyler Shuck.

I don't hate Tyler Shuck.

It's just that I feel he's not ready to be the starter.

Once he's ready,

I think we got something.

But it's not now.

That's the whole thing.

And it showed today.

He's not comfortable in the pocket.

Pocket awareness is bad.

You know,

when he took that sack fumble.

Now,

granted,

old boy just came around the edge real quick.

But you drop back 20 yards.

I mean,

you kept dropping back.

You need to step up in the pocket.

That's called pocket awareness.

That's called knowing.

or feeling the play around you,

you know,

where the pressure is coming from.

And that takes time.

Not everybody has that.

The same thing happened to

Spencer Rattler in the first game,

but that was in the first preseason game.

The second in this game,

he started stepping up.

He learned from it.

And Spencer,

not Spencer,

but Tyler Shuck will learn from it,

and he will do better.

It's just.

A process.

That's all.

It's a process.

So I feel,

me personally,

if I'm Kellen Moore,

if I'm the head honchos over there on airline,

I'm going with Spencer Rattler.

Now,

with all that being said,

the big question mark,

another big question mark was the offensive line.

The offensive line has looked like pure dog water over the last couple of games.

Now,

a lot of injuries have taken place.

And a lot of starters haven't played either.

And so we fast forward to today's game against the Denver Broncos,

and Eric McCoy plays in this game.

And you can see a clear difference in that offensive line.

It's crazy how one man,

and that's what happened last year.

When

Eric McCoy went out last season,

that's when all the wheels fell off.

I mean,

all hell broke loose on that offensive line when Eric McCoy got hurt.

We couldn't bounce back.

We couldn't recover.

He is truly the anchor of that offensive line.

And.

It was a clear difference on his O-line today.

We saw holes opening up for the run.

We saw the quarterbacks have time.

Well,

namely,

Spencer Rattler had time in the pocket.

It was amazing.

It was night and day.

It was like a whole transplant of an O-line.

Now,

with that being said,

we had some injuries.

on that O-line today.

We had right tackle Landon Young.

He left the game in the fourth,

not fourth,

but in the second quarter with a lower body injury,

and I saw that.

I saw it when it happened,

and I was like,

oh,

man.

He got rolled up on.

It was friendly fire.

It was devastating.

All I can just say is,

man,

this team is cursed.

We just cannot have a healthy O-line to save our life,

bro.

and but

But Landon Young,

I don't think he's the starter,

but it still hurts because you need depth because our starters can't stay healthy.

And Landon Young,

he stepped up big time last season when we had all those injuries.

So that's a big loss if it's something serious.

I'm leaning towards it is because they brought out the cart,

and that's not a good sign when they bring out the cart.

I saw another offensive lineman limp off,

but they never.

Touched in on who that was,

but it's all good.

Hopefully we'll get it.

I'm trying not to think about it.

But as far as injuries,

speaking of injuries,

we got to see our first taste of Devin Neal,

the running back that we drafted in this year's well,

this past year's draft,

and he looks good.

You know,

he only had the ball a couple of times.

I think he had five carries for 20 yards or something like that,

but they were nice runs,

and he caught the ball twice.

And so he looked good.

I like the way he run.

He has a similar running style to

Kendrick Miller,

a little bit of

Alvin Kamara.

I don't compare too many people to Alvin Kamara because he's one of one.

You know,

Alvin Kamara is,

you can't compare him to nobody else,

just flat out,

straight up,

period.

but

it was good to see him in action.

It was good to see our starters in action for the first time.

Those who we haven't seen,

you know,

Cam Jordan,

Demario Davis,

who else was out there?

Carl Grandison,

Alvin Kamara for that one play,

which was a fake,

but it faked everybody out.

That was it.

That was the most action we got from Alvin Kamara today.

But it was good to see him out on the field.

It felt like football,

man.

I'm telling you,

that first quarter felt like an actual football game.

Regular game.

A game that mattered.

It was exciting to watch.

A couple of players,

or should I say a few players,

didn't suit up for one reason or another.

Banged up or whatever.

Defensive back Terrell Burgess.

our

left tackle,

Talien Seifuaga,

tight end Taysom Hill,

tight end

Foster Monroe,

Rico

Payton,

Trevor Penning,

John

Ridgway III,

which is,

ah,

man,

you know,

because he's a defensive tackle.

We got some really good defensive tackles,

he being one of them.

I was excited when the Saints signed him,

but he's a little banged up.

Uh,

don't no timeline when he's going to return,

but,

uh,

it,

it sucks that he's banged up.

Uh,

cornerback Alante Taylor still hasn't played yet due to quote unquote injury.

And I say that because there are reports that he's not really hurt that he wants a contract extension or whatever.

If that's the case,

I don't know,

man.

I think you're going about it the wrong way.

Uh,

Alante play this year out.

Play this year out.

But at the same time,

I understand where he's coming from because he's looking at somebody like a Paulson Adebo.

He's looking at

Marshawn Lattimore and all this here,

how the Saints treat their cornerbacks in the contract situations,

you know?

And he's like,

look,

I want my money.

You know,

pay me now.

And so

I don't know.

I don't know what to tell him.

I hope.

I hope he can get back on the field.

I like Alante Taylor.

I think he's an asset to this Saints defense.

But I'm also looking at these guys who are playing in his state.

I'm looking at a Kool-Aid.

I'm looking at a

Quincy

Riley.

other cats out there what's his name um the one who who shined last week uh sanker who we drafted yeah with their players right behind you so if it's true if it's true he's playing hurt for

a contract thing this is his way of sitting out i think he needs to think this through a little better but in any event uh let's go through the stats of today's game against the broncos and

Beginning with the passing stats.

Today's leading passer for the New Orleans Saints was Tyler Shuck.

He was 12 for 20,

102 yards,

no touchdowns,

no interceptions.

Coming in second is Spencer Rattler.

He was

5 for 8,

43 yards,

no touchdowns,

no interceptions.

Jake Hayter came in late.

He was 5 for 9,

37 yards,

no touchdowns,

no interceptions.

as far as sacks are concerned

Tyler Shuck,

I already discussed the sack he had,

the sack fumble.

That was the only sack on him today.

Spencer Rattler was sacked once.

Jay Cater was sacked twice.

Our leading rusher today was Tyler Shuck.

He had two carries for 20 yards and a touchdown.

Devin Neal was second on that list,

five carries for 20 yards.

Kendra Miller,

three carries for 15 yards.

Jay Cater,

one carry for 10 yards.

It's Cam Akers.

Two carries for...

for five yards.

Clyde Edwards-Alaire,

two carries for four yards.

Valdez

Jones Jr.,

he carried the ball once for two yards.

And I listed all the running backs because,

let's not forget,

we're in a running back competition as well.

Who's going to back up Alvin Kamara?

I think today,

after today,

of course,

is Kendra Miller.

I think that's the no-brainer,

you know.

So what's the pecking order after that?

Because we're not keeping six,

possibly seven running backs on the roster.

So who are we keeping?

Of course,

Alvin Kamara.

Kendrick Miller is on the team.

After that,

it's kind of a question mark.

Well,

Devin Neal,

I think he's on the team as well.

We just drafted him.

But who else?

Are we going to go with four or five?

I think four would probably be the cutoff.

And so somebody,

somebody out of the rest of these crop of running backs probably going to make the team.

I would say Jones Jr.

is probably gone,

but probably get re-signed to the practice squad if he clears waivers.

But I think he's possibly going to be out.

Clyde Edwards-Alaire,

he's on the fence.

Cam Akers,

I think.

think he's going to get cut i think cam acres he's done nothing i mean he's done nothing uh throughout this training camp or preseason uh at least to impress me to outdo these other guys so uh if

there's anybody that's going to kick rocks it'll probably be cam acres but who am i i'm not gm unfortunately our leading receiver today was

Kevin Austin Jr.,

he had three catches for 34 yards.

Chris Olave,

three catches for 29 yards.

Moving over to defense,

our leading tackler today was Rajon Wright.

He had nine tackles.

Jonas Sanker had nine tackles.

Jordan Howden had six tackles.

And Isaac Yeldum had four tackles.

And everybody else was tied with fours and threes at that point.

Moving on.

Interceptions,

Quincy Rowley,

he caught an interception today,

adding on to his stock on this team.

Speaking of team,

let's go over team stats.

Beginning with first downs,

Broncos had 22 first downs to the Saints,

16.

Total plays ran,

Broncos,

75,

Saints,

58.

Third down efficiency,

Broncos were 7 for 16,

Saints were 5 for 13.

13 total yardage broncos 396 yards to the saints 236 they both had 10 total drives apiece yards per play was won by the broncos with 5.3 to the saints

4.1 passing yardage saints had 160 yards passing to the broncos 293 rushing broncos won in that category as well with a hundred and

three yards to the Saints

76.

Red zone efficiency.

Broncos were three for six in the red zone to the Saints.

One of one.

They only got to the red zone once today.

Penalties.

Broncos had six penalties for 35 yards.

Saints,

three penalties for 40 yards.

They cleaned that up.

They did better in the penalty section,

which is the only category the Saints won in.

Time of possession.

The Saints got swallowed up in that as well.

Broncos had the ball for 36 minutes and 51 seconds.

Saints had the ball for 23 minutes and 9 seconds.

Both teams had a turnover apiece.

So that is that.

That is it for the preseason.

We are on to the real deal.

And we are on to the regular season.

We get the bye next week.

And then it gets real.

We are on.

to arizona even though they'll be here in the dome uh i'm excited my final thoughts going into all of this i'm excited you know i'm not excited for anything special i'm not looking for anything you know to set the world on fire but i am excited to see this team grow and

i think us as a who that nation as a fan base i i think we need to just go along with the ride enjoy the ride

you know unless they show us that is it's a dumpster fire and then yes express the dismay of course but this team is building this team is truly building uh we're in a rebuild let's let's just go for the ride you

know and hope and pray that this team is at least competitive i'm not looking to go

17 and 0 i'm not looking for that i just want to be competitive don't get the brakes beat off of you.

See,

for example,

look at a game like this today.

For the most part,

Saints was in this game.

If you go by when the starters were in the game,

Saints kept this game tight throughout.

You know,

they were competitive.

Broncos,

that's a good team over there,

starter-wise.

That's a good team.

Sean Payton got those guys.

They won 10 games last season.

They weren't supposed to win nothing.

But they won,

you know,

and they're continuing to win.

And they

they look good sean payton got them looking good they look like a young saint team they look like uh 2007 eight saints over there you know to put a put a number on it but definitely not 09 they're not 09 it's but they look like a young upstart team over there now you know good job for sean but the saints saints

were competitive with them they actually look like they can beat these guys and that's all I want.

I want a team that's going to go out there every Sunday and leave it on the field.

And if they play this year,

like they played in the first quarter of this game,

it's going to be a fun and exciting season.

So that's my final thoughts on it.

As far as the quarterback thing,

we'll wait to see what the final decision is.

It wouldn't shock me if they go with Tyler Shuck.

It wouldn't bother me either.

I'll be like,

okay,

because this.

this is a whatever year,

you know,

but if we want to send them out there and let them learn,

learn on the job.

Okay.

That's your method.

Let's go that route.

But,

uh,

me personally,

I will go with Spencer Rattler.

Yeah.

I think he gives you a better opportunity to win or be competitive,

uh,

as opposed to sending a rookie quarterback out there.

That's going to look like be like a deer in headlights.

When that old line breaks down again,

it is going to happen.

So we'll see.

We'll see.

Definitely by Tuesday,

we'll know not only who's on this team,

but who will be the starting quarterback of our New Orleans Saints for the 2025 season.

But I would like to know,

what are your thoughts of today's game?

Are you encouraged by the game?

You know,

I know it's a loss.

I know we took an L,

but are you encouraged by the things you saw?

It's not just the X's and O's and the statistics and all this here.

It's the game within the game.

You know,

that's what I was looking at.

I was looking at things like will a running back pick up a blitz?

Are the players where they're supposed to be on defense?

You know,

like last year,

nobody was where they were supposed to be.

It was wide open people all over the field even last week on defense,

but this week it improved,

you know last week They couldn't tackle a fire hydrant and you know,

but this year this week duh tackling God

better you know it's little things like that yeah that's what i was looking for and that's what i was impressed by i want to know what impressed you or didn't impress you let me know by email kbradiopodcast at gmail.com you can also search for this show on all social media platforms just search for the kb radio network on those platforms also youtube

subscribe to the kb radio Network channel.

and like this video if you don't mind don't forget about the five stars the reviews and sharing this show if you're listening on apple podcast spotify iheart radio wherever you are listening to the who that said podcast here on the kb radio network

everybody thank you for joining me this preseason as we went over the saints and their mission i guess you could say They're,

they're...

March into the

2025-26 NFL season under the leadership of our new head coach,

Kellen Moore.

Let's see where this journey takes us.

I am excited for this season.

I am so,

so,

so happy to be back here on the

Who That Said podcast,

man.

This is,

I don't know,

man,

for the past...

How long has it been?

Six months?

Something like that?

It's been depressing,

man,

with no football and no Saints to talk about.

Nothing exciting happening over on airline.

It was just a state of depression.

But now it feels good.

It feels like the world is right again.

And I am hyped up for the regular season.

Next week,

next week,

we are going to do a full breakdown of the Saints.

upcoming season,

we're going to go game by game as we preview the NFL season for the Saints and what to expect from the Saints.

So be on the lookout for that next week.

And of course,

when the season starts up

September the 7th,

when the Saints host the Arizona Cardinals,

we will be back in full action every single week.

Until then.

I'm gonna be screaming to the top of my lungs!

Who dat?

Saints vs Broncos Final Preseason Game Recap

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