The Good, bad, and ugly Spencer Rattler melts down with 4 turnovers in 26-14 loss to Bears

The Good

Defense started fast by not giving up an opening drive TD for first time in four games. Rookie Quincy Riley chipped in with an INT of Caleb Williams as the defense found a way to keep the game close despite the offenses ineptitude until the dam broke midway through the 2nd Quarter.

Chris Olave with an excellent bounce back game on the way to the first 2 TD game of his career catching 5 passes for 96 yards

Chase Young is a key piece to this defense, the Saints need to find another one.

The Bad

Play-calling and sequencing.  Down no more than six until midway through the 2nd of an away game and your game-plan is to live in the shotgun and be pass heavy?

There’s no excuse for Moore asking Rattler to shoulder the load and placing him in situations where the Bears pass rush could pin their ears back.  Ben Johnson’s staunch commitment to the run is what ultimately allowed his quarterback to outperform his counterpart. A subtle win for the Saints as Rattler only cost a 5th, but a huge knock on Moore whose offense is severely underperforming.

Run defense was atrocious.  Most egregious was players loafing late in the game, players being mentioned in contract extensions.  Thats not the type of effort you reward.

Another week another Grupe miss.  He’s missed a field goal in 5 of 7 games.

The Ugly

Spencer Rattler folded in the biggest game of his young career. After taking care of the ball in his first six games he matched his total turnovers in the 1st half with two and ended with four.

We knew the story between Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler.

Lincoln Riley, the third party involved in this rivalry, continues to look correct for his decisiveness.  In a game defining moment, rather than allow Rattler’s early turnovers to snowball, Riley benched Rattler for Williams.  Caleb leading the Sooners to 55-48 comeback victory vs Texas was an unexpected but fortunate product of a bold decision by Riley.

The injury to Erik McCoy is troubling.

A team that loses its center is statistically more likely to lose its next game, and McCoy’s bicep/elbow injury sounds significant. McCoy was seen in a sling.

Random Thought -I love how things that weren’t working for teams prior to facing the Saints miraculously get fixed.

Random Thought II - Ben Johnson could win with Rattler..

Random Thought III - Kendre Miller shares a space with Dennis Allen and immediately gets injured. Ironic isn't it?

Random Thought IV - Juwan Johnson flexing towards the Bears bench after absorbing a huge hit, down 20, is a microcosm of why they can’t win.

—————————————————————

Another game where Kellen Moore's offense can’t score 21 points but we’ll end up blaming the defense.  Is Kellen Moore holding Spencer Rattler back or is Rattler holding Kellen back?

It’s time for Moore to pivot to Shough so we can get that question answered.

If the Saints truly believed in Rattler there was an opportunity to copy the 2024 Titans who committed to Will Levis as their starter in his 2nd year. The Saints could have signed a veteran and avoided a sham 3-way QB competition that Rattler won anyway

The longer Moore takes to make the bold decision Riley made and bench Rattler for Tyler Shough, the more adversity he’ll encounter.

Shough spilled the beans, the offense is built for him, that’s why it looks broken with Rattler directing it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJjb5SaocNs