The New Orleans Saints were projected to lose their first four games of the season by many. What wasn't expected is Spencer Rattler playing well enough to win in both of the first two games. Unfortunately, the Saints are right where everyone predicted they'd be, 0-2. They've wasted winning performances by Rattler, and the Saints' biggest obstacle has been themselves.
No one expected Rattler to play as well as he has. This isn't to say he's a top-5 quarterback, but Rattler has played well enough to fit the "wins aren't a quarterback stat" argument. It hasn't been perfect, but it's hard to lay blame at his feet for either loss. Matter of fact, Rattler had the best game of his career against the San Francisco 49ers.
In both weeks, the Saints have struggled to get off the ground early. In both weeks, the Saints had the ball with a chance to win in the final two minutes. In both weeks, the Saints failed to complete the comeback. Wash and repeat.
Early mistakes prove costly for the Saints
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You can point to Juwan Johnson not catching the ball in the end zone versus the Arizona Cardinals. There are multiple moments that heavily impact a game, but with a play of that magnitude at that juncture of the game, it's hard to find a bigger moment. Against San Francisco, there isn't necessarily that one moment to point to.
The Saints continuously kept stubbing their toe with errors in critical moments. Those errors came in different forms. You could point to penalties, points being left on the board, keeping drives alive. Let's point at all of them, as those errors were the Saints' downfall.
For the second week in a row, penalties have proven costly. A week ago the Saints had the same amount of penalties as points, 13. The penalties actually outnumber the points if you count the penalties that weren't accepted.
Those 13 infractions tied the Tennessee Titans for the most penalties in the NFL in Week 1. The Saints brought referees to practice this week, but the penalties continued, in critical moments at that. The Saints gave up two first downs on third down due to flags in the secondary. The Saints also took two first downs away from themselves due to penalties.
It wasn't just penalties. Johnson had a few drops early. There was no defender around this time. Blake Grupe missed yet another "sure thing." These are players you're going to have to count on, and they're making critical mistakes. That's not winning football, and you can't put that on the QB. Worst part about it is the difficulty is likely about to go up. That makes the missed opportunities even harder to swallow.
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