Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
For the second consecutive week, the New Orleans Saints had possession of the football with time on the clock to drive and potentially win a football game. Much like the opening week loss to the Arizona Cardinals, the Saints’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers wasn’t one without high points nor was it one without low points.
From miscues and missed opportunities to big names and big plays, the numbers help tell the story of a 26-21 loss that packed both pluses and minuses.
1 – Saints running back Alvin Kamara finished with 99 rushing yards, one yard shy of his 12th 100-yard rushing game of his career. He had reached 100 rushing yards at one point during the game, but somewhere along the way following the contest, a stat correction took a yard away.
3 – Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler had his first career multi-passing touchdown game against San Francisco, tossing three. The last time a Saints quarterback threw for three touchdowns was Week 1 of the 2024 season when former passer Derek Carr tossed a trio of touchdowns against the Carolina Panthers. Rattler set multiple career highs in this game.
3.5 – Saints defensive end Carl Granderson is up to 3.5 sacks on the season through just two games. He is already just two shy of his 5.5 total from last year
Pass-catchers for New Orleans also had three drops, all of which were early in the game.
5 – The Saints are on a five-game home losing streak. Their last win in the Superdome was against the Cleveland Browns, Week 11 last year.
13 – New Orleans ran the third-most no huddle plays in Week 2, with Monday Night Football left to go. The team took 13 such snaps gaining 80 yards from scrimmage on them, No. 2 in the league thus far for the week.
18 – After running just four play action passes against the Arizona Cardinals last week, the Saints ran 18 against the 49ers. On them, Rattler attempted 15 passes, completing nine for 100 passing yards and a pair of passing touchdowns.
53% – San Francisco converted 53% of its third down conversion attempts. The Saints are now 1-11 since the beginning of the 2024 season when allowing their opponents to convert better than 40% on third downs.
80.6% – Zone coverage is now the identity of the Saints’ defense. New Orleans spent 80.6% of its defensive snaps in zone.
135 – Per Pro Football Focus, the Saints surrendered 135 yards after the catch on Sunday. The team was also credited with five missed tackles in the passing game.
280 – It’s been 280 days since the Saints have won a regular season football game. Their last win was December 8, 2024 against the New York Giants. It’s the third-longest current drought bridging from last year to this season. Only the Tennessee Titans (294) and Cleveland Browns (297) have longer gaps between wins.
