Canal Street Chronicles
Chris Olave had easily his best game of the season against the Jets. The Saints receiver caught 10 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, his second multi-score game of the year. With this game he set a career high in receptions in a single season with 92 and counting, added to his career high in touchdown (now standing at 8), and is just 79 yards away from a career high in yards. All together Olave is having the best year of his career at exactly the right time. An injury plagued 2024 was not what anyone wanted to see after two great seasons to begin his career, but Olave has responded by proving that he is still a top level WR1 and someone you can build an offense around. He is set for a new contract after next season, and the Saints should definitely keep him around long term as he has developed quite a relationship with rookie QB Tyler Shough. With Shough, Olave has caught 44 passes for 560 yards and 5 touchdowns compared to 48 receptions for 484 yards and 3 touchdowns with Spencer Rattler under center.
The Saints offense settled for multiple short yardage field goals on Sunday as they were unable to punch it in for a touchdown until the second half. The Saints got to the Jets 17, 18, and 21 yard lines on three successive drives and settled for field goals on each one. This was enough against a Jets team that is scoring just 18 points per game, and the lack of a run game with the Saints top three running backs all injured certainly doesn’t help, but it is still something they will need to improve on to close the season.
Not much was ugly about this game for the Saints, as they protected Tyler Shough pretty well and also only committed three penalties and won by four possessions. The ugliest thing about this game was what the Saints defense did to the Jets offensive line. They sacked quarterback Brady Cook 8 times for a net loss of 57 yards, and held the Jets to just 64 rushing yards. Cam Jordan, in what may have been his final game in the Superdome, sacked Cook twice bringing his season total to 8.5, more than he had in the previous two seasons combined. Nathan Shepherd, Chase Young, Chris Rumph, Jonah Williams, and Alontae Taylor also got to the quarterback on Sunday in what was by far the Saint best game rushing the passer all year.
