On the Saints' previous possession, which began at their 29-yard line, Rattler led the offense to Jacksonville's 24-yard line in nine plays before a pass intended for Tipton was intercepted by cornerback Keni-H Lovely at the 7. But the defense forced a punt and even though it pinned New Orleans at its 18, the Saints took advantage of the extra opportunity.
"I think everything counts, especially in the preseason when we're trying to get things down a little bit," Pettis said. "It doesn't really matter who's in there or what the score is, every time you can put a drive together and finish the way we did, I feel like it's always good."
The final flurry helped the Saints balance the scale statistically: They were outgained by two yards (337-335) and outrushed by nine (96-87); posted 18 first downs to Jacksonville's 21; and won the time of possession battle (31:12-28:48).
Biggest, though, was a 3-1 advantage in turnovers. Rookie defensive tackle Vernon Broughton recovered a first-quarter fumble in the red zone to keep points off the board, linebacker Jaylan Ford had a third-quarter interception in the red zone to keep points off the board and with Jacksonville looking to inch closer after reaching the Saints' 42 following Rattler's touchdown pass, Jonas Sanker intercepted Seth Henigan's pass attempt and returned it 40 yards to Jacksonville's 24 as time expired.
Rookie Tyler Shough started at quarterback for the Saints and completed nine of 12 passes for 66 yards in the first half, which ended in a 17-3 Jaguars lead. Shough was sacked twice and penalized for intentional grounding; last week, he pulled off the recovery-from-adversity story against the Chargers by following an interception returned for a touchdown with a touchdown pass to Tipton.
A week later, Rattler was 13 of 18 for 123 yards before smoothly executing the two-minute offense.