The Good: Chase Young and Carl Granderson
The Saints pair of pass rushers was able to constantly put pressure on Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers on Sunday. Combining for 3 sacks, Granderson and Young are proving to be one of the better pass-rushing duos in the NFL. They rank 1st in the league for a duo with a combined 12.5 sacks, just ahead of the Texans Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter (11.5), and this is even with Granderson missing a game. Granderson has gotten 1.5 sacks in each of the last three games and is well on his way to his first career double digit sack season. The Saints took a risk investing long term in Chase Young given his injury history, but that risk has paid off in a big way, as the former second overall pick is looking every bit the player that warranted that pick with 17 sacks in his last 19 games.
The Bad: Rushing Offense
The Saints rushing offense hit a new low in Paris which is saying a lot given how poor it has been all year. The Saints ran 17 times for 18 yards, with the leading rusher being Tyler Shough with 3 carries for 7 yards. Alvin Kamara (3.0 ypc) and Kendre Miller (2.8 ypc) rank 37th and 39th respectively in terms of yards per carry among the 41 running backs in the NFL with 40+ carries. Prize free agent Travis Etienne Jr. has been out since Week 3 and was averaging 4.3 yards per carry before he went down. He is eligible to come off IR after the bye week, but even he won’t be enough to save the Saints ground game. The fact is they cannot block well up front as the offensive line is both banged up and also just not very good at run blocking. This was the fourth game this year where their leading rusher was held to 30 yards or fewer, and they have only eclipsed 100 yards as a team twice. Just adding a better running back will help a bit but will not fix the main cause of the Saints problems on the ground, and fixing the ground game should be arguably their highest priority in the offseason.
PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 25: Daniel Carlson of the New Orleans Saints prepares to attempt a field goal kick during the NFL game between Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at Stade de France on October 25, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 25: Daniel Carlson of the New Orleans Saints prepares to attempt a field goal kick during the NFL game between Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints at Stade de France on October 25, 2026 in Paris, France. (Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images)
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The Ugly: Finishing long drives
The Saints had four drives of 11+ plays on Sunday and only got points out of one of them. They opened with an 11-play drive that got to the Steelers 43-yard line before stalling due to penalties and being forced to punt but would go on to score on each of their next two drives which tied the game at 10. In the second half however, they had a 14-play drive that ended in a red zone interception, and an 11-play drive that ended in a missed 52-yard field goal. If they convert on each of those two drives, they are at least tied and have the ball with 7:04 left in the fourth quarter, and at best have a four-point lead and make the Steelers have to get in the end zone on their final drive. Before this game, the Saints had been good at finishing in the red zone, as this was Shough’s first red zone interception of his career, so let’s hope this is not a sign of things to come but just a one game anomaly.
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