Canal Street Chronicles
The New Orleans Saints dropped to 1-6 after a dominant performance from the Dennis Allen-led Chicago Bears defense. Similar to the Saints’ other losses this season, the Saints were down two scores early and couldn’t rally back. While there were a few promising performances from players for New Orleans in the loss, it was a rough week altogether.
Despite putting 98 yards on six receptions last week against the New England Patriots, many went public, calling for New Orleans to look to trade their star wideout after he struggled with drops in the loss. Olave did more than just respond, adding another 98 yards on five receptions and scoring the team’s only points on the day with two touchdowns.
The Saints don’t have a lot of firepower on offense. Rashid Shaheed is lightning in a bottle, but is limited in his route tree and is used predominantly as a deep threat. Alvin Kamara is already 30 and approaching retirement, but Olave is only 25 years old and still on a rookie contract. He’s the offense’s best weapon and proved it on Sunday despite a bad day for the offense.
Head coach Kellen Moore alluded that rookie cornerback Quincy Riley would remain the starter when Isaac Yiadom returns from injury. Riley has played well while filling in for the veteran cornerback and made a big play for the Saints on Sunday. The rookie cornerback baited quarterback Caleb Williams into an errant throw before jumping the receiver for his first career interception.
The Saints’ rookie class has been a bright spot for the one-win team. Jonas Sanker, Kelvin Banks Jr, and Danny Stutsman are just a few of the rookies who have made an impact early on for New Orleans. Riley’s strong performance is a strong sign for the Saints’ secondary going forward, which has struggled through seven weeks of the 2025 season.
I mean, seriously? Blake Grupe has been the opposite of what the Saints offense needs in a kicker. With a young quarterback running the show, New Orleans was always going to need to rely on their kicker to put a big bulk of their offense, but Grupe has been anything but trustworthy. The third-year kicker has missed six kicks through seven games and is kicking at an inefficient 70%, which ranks him 33rd in the NFL.
Grupe is kicking 50% from 50+ yards out and 33% from 40-49 yards. It’s time the Saints elevate second-year kicker Charlie Smyth from the practice squad and see what they’ve got in the Irish kicker.
The Saints’ run defense continues to be abysmal. The Bears ended the day with 222 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Chicago was very efficient running against the struggling defense of New Orleans, averaging 5.6 yards a carry.
The Bears split carries between star running back D’Andre Swift and seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai. The two averaged 6.5 and 6.2 yards...
