Pats Pulpit
Two weeks after soundly beating the Carolina Panthers, the New England Patriots will again be going up against an NFC South team this coming Sunday: they will travel to New Orleans to take on the Saints. Like the Panthers, they are a rather unfamiliar opponent.
So, in order to find out more about the team, we reached out to Nic Jennings of Pats Pulpit’s sister site Canal Street Chronicles — the SB Nation community for all things Saints. Here is what he told us about the upcoming game and what to expect from New England’s Week 6 opponent.
1. How has Kellen Moore put his fingerprint on the Saints organization early in his tenure?
Starting off, Kellen Moore completely won over the fanbase in the offseason with an immediate culture shift. He emphasized efficient time management and recovery, which earned high praise from his players — and it evidently paid off, as New Orleans has dealt with far fewer injuries than in years past to this point.
TE Juwan Johnson said the vibes are the best they’ve been since the Saints started the 2021 season 5-2 before Jameis Winston’s ACL tear. Johnson, C Erik McCoy, and RB Kendre Miller all mentioned they felt better than ever that deep into the offseason, while former Patriots DT Davon Godchaux called it the best training camp he’s ever been part of.
Through five weeks, the Saints may be 1-4, but they’ve been competitive in four of those games aside from the Seattle Seahawks fiasco. The team hasn’t lost morale and just doesn’t quit, and it all finally came together on Sunday against the New York Giants — you can see how much they respect their head coach in the postgame speech that surfaced on social media.
DE Chase Young summed it up best when asked about Kellen Moore:
“We love Coach Moore — just what he’s doing right now, what he’s providing to us… He’s won it; he’s bringing all that. He knows how to win, and he’s doing things with us to be in that position also. Can’t say enough about Coach Moore.”
It’s safe to say Moore has already won over both the team and the fanbase.
2. Is the blame some have placed on Spencer Rattler for his 0-10 career start fair? How did he contribute to last week’s comeback?
I wouldn’t say it’s fair, no. The dumpster fire he was thrown into — considering the number of injuries, the limited supporting cast and the fact he was playing under an interim HC in Darren Rizzi at the end of the year — I don’t think you can ask any fifth-round pick to produce wins with what Rattler had to work with as a rookie.
As for his sophomore season losses, like I mentioned in the previous answer, Rattler has kept the Saints competitive in games that many thought they shouldn’t be in — and there’s absolutely no questioning his competitive spirit.
I’ve seen a lot of fans argue that...
