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Saints fall to 49ers, drop to 0-2 despite Rattler’s surge

Sep 14, 2025 | 3:15 PM

Michael Bacigalupi

By Ross Jackson

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The New Orleans Saints start their season 0-2 with a pair of early losses to NFC West opponents. This week, against the San Francisco 49ers, the Saints fell 21-26. Here’s how it all played out.

The Story

New Orleans fought valiantly but couldn’t outplay the 49ers, even though San Francisco was without several starters on its vaunted offense. Even without quarterback Brock Purdy, tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, backup quarterback Mac Jones and his offense put up 26 points on the Saints’ defense inside a Caesars Superdome that sounded much more like a 49ers home game than a Saints’ home game.

The Star

Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler set career heights in passing touchdowns (3), passer rating (118.0) and completion percentage (73.5%). Unfortunately for him, his day will likely be remembered by a sack-fumble late on fourth down that thwarted the team’s comeback attempt.

A few drops by tight end Juwan Johnson and wide receiver Chris Olave could be a big part of the narrative for Rattler’s day as well. But overall, the team as a whole couldn’t close the gap in time, despite being in position to do so late.

The Plays

The Stats

  • Quarterback Spencer Rattler had his first career multi-passing touchdown game.
  • Running back Alvin Kamara had his 12th career 100-yard rushing game until late in the game. A rush for a loss knocked him down to 99 rushing yards. 
  • Defensive end Chris Rumph II and linebacker Demario Davis paired up for the Saints’ first takeaway of the year. Rumph was able to get to Jones as he reared back to pass and knocked the ball away before the quarterback’s arm was moving forward. Davis quickly dove on the ball, registering the takeaway. The recovery resulted in a score by the Saints’ offense.
  • Defensive end Carl Granderson had two sacks in this matchup along with three tackles for a loss. He now has 3.5 sacks on the season through two games. 
  • The Saints cut their penalties from 13 in Week 1 to seven in Week 2.

The Injuries

Granderson went to the injury tent late in the first quarter after the 49ers’ 14-play touchdown drive. After being evaluated, he was back on the sideline by the end of the first quarter and returned to the game shortly thereafter.

Safety Justin Reid was examined on the sideline after being slow to get up after making a tackle. He returned to the field shortly after stretching out his midsection on the sideline, never needing a trip to the injury tent.

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