Saints win showcases promise for team’s future

By Ross Jackson

The New Orleans Saints put together a statement victory with their 24-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints’ division rivals entered as the better team, and despite the hostile road environment and momentum-shifting weather, New Orleans showed that resilience in adversity can be part of its identity.

“When you’ve only won a couple of games during the season, there’s a lot of adversity that you face,” said head coach Kellen Moore after the game. “For our guys to come out and have the energy and the physicality that they played with, credit to our guys. They’re a special group. A group that keeps playing.”

It’s a wonder whether buying too much into a three-win team is worth it. But with a win like this one, it appears so. This win was different for New Orleans than its two previous victories. Against the New York Giants, their opponent turned the ball over on five consecutive drives. It was the first time since the 90s that a New Orleans defense had such a game. Against the Carolina Panthers, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough’s first career win, Carolina couldn’t get anything going offensively.

Often, the Saints have been critiqued as a team that can’t win when things don’t go perfectly. Their win at Tampa in Week 14 is evidence to the contrary.

It was the team’s most impressive win since the opening weeks of the 2024 NFL season.

Things weren’t perfect, of that there is no doubt. However, that fact is part of what makes the win so meaningful for the players and coaches that contributed to it. 

“This is why you play football,” Shough said in his postgame press conference. “Coming here in the elements just with all your boys with all your teammates. … I think we did a better job of being a little bit more complimentary and (I) was just proud of all of our guys. It kind of took everybody. So, it was just a lot of fun. That’s the thing resonating with me right now.”

Aside from the victory itself, the impact players present a light at the end of the tunnel for the team’s development process and rebuilding year.

Shough (26 years-old), rookie running back Devin Neal (22), wide receivers Devaughn Vele (27) and Mason Tipton (25), cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry (23) and Alontae Taylor (27) and defensive end Chase Young (26) are all under the age of 30 and all but the last two are in either their rookie or second NFL years. Only one, Taylor, is currently on an expiring contract.

Add to that wide receiver Chris Olave, the performance of edge rusher Carl Granderson and the dirty work done on offense by tight end Juwan Johnson and it becomes clear that the Saints do have a talented foundation upon which to continue building.

Adding to the wide receiver room, retooling the offensive line, adding more disruption to the pass rush and more improvement can and must be made. But for a starting place in a rebuild, the Saints have the talent. Now, the team also has the statement win from which it can propel itself to greater performances.

The win is reminiscent of the Detroit Lions’ 2022 Week 18 win over the Green Bay Packers. Detroit, much like the Saints this week, were already eliminated from playoff contention. However, the Lions went to Green Bay and knocked off the Packers, playing spoiler for the green and yellow’s postseason hopes.

New Orleans’ win doesn’t immediately put the Buccaneers on the outside looking in on the division. But it does muddy their path with a short week on the way.

But even without the charge of knocking a divisional opponent off-balance, the Saints should take much motivation from this win. It’s the kind of win many of us thought they couldn’t pull off. It wasn’t perfect. But that’s what made it perfect.