A new coach and a new quarterback has been a successful combination to take a team from the cellar to the playoffs in recent years. Two years ago, the Houston Texans rose from the cellar in the AFC South to a division title and opening postseason win with first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Last season, the Washington Commanders rose from the depths of their division standings in the NFC East behind first-year head coach Dan Quinn and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. The Commanders success included a pair of postseason wins that notably knocked the top seed Detroit Lions out of the competition while Washington advanced all the way to the NFC Championship Game.
So, with that as a backdrop, how do you think the New Orleans Saints are going to do this season with first-year head coach Kellen Moore and their recently named new starting quarterback, Spencer Rattler? The fifth round 2024 draft selection beat out a pair of other signal callers to win the starting job. Rookie Tyler Shough has been slotted second on the depth chart and Jake Haener was released by the Saints on Tuesday.
Will the new coach and quarterback generate results that parallel the success enjoyed by the Texans and Commanders?
Not likely.
The Saints switch at quarterback was required when veteran Derek Carr was forced to retire after a series of injuries. When Moore left the offensive coordinator position with the Philadelphia Eagles in February, he thought his quarterback this season was going to be Carr.
Without him, the Saints were looking at three marginal choices to move into the starting role. Tyler Shough was a second-round pick in this year’s draft out of Louisville and Haener was a career backup. Rattler made six starts last season after an injury sidelined Carr and New Orleans lost all those games.
Rattler threw more interceptions than touchdowns in his work last season, five to four, and compiled a 70.4 Quarterback Raking … not exactly numbers to suggest Rattler is the next Stroud or Daniels.
Moore will begin his career as the Saints Head Coach at home against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday of the opening weekend. The Cardinals are a most interesting group.
The Cardinals won eight games last season behind quarterback Kyler Murray. Jonathan Gannon is in his third season as Head Coach in Arizona and while taking over a team that had cracked the postseason field in 2021, he has not yet led the Cardinals to the playoffs. But Arizona has an interesting pattern with their current head coach; they win games convincingly when they are perceived as the better team.
Last season, in games played against NFL weaklings, the Cardinals won by scores of 29-9, 31-6 and 30-17 over the Chicago Bears, New York Jets and New England Patriots respectively. They also beat the Rams in their first meeting, 41-10, and downed the San Francisco 49ers twice in 2024 including a 47-24 thumping on the league’s final regular season weekend.
In other words, the Cardinals are not good enough to take inferior competition lightly, and they are talented enough to gain huge victory margins.
The Saints opened the 2024 season with lopsided wins over the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys by scores of 47-10 and 44-19. Then a Week Three narrow home loss to eventual Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia began their decline that resulted by season end with only five wins and the firing of head coach Dennis Allen.
What we’ve got here is a Saints team not on the cusp of a breakout season, but at the beginning of a rebuilding project that in all likelihood will not include this week’s starting quarterback when they return to relevance.
In the meantime, they opened as a home underdog of 3½ points to the Cardinals, and the line has risen three points since first posted. From our vantage point, the line shift is warranted, and the Cardinals open the season with another lopsided win over an inferior opponent.
Qoxhi Picks: Arizona Cardinals (-6½) over New Orleans Saints