The New Orleans Saints are on the verge of a win against the Commanders

The New Orleans Saints held together gum, chicken wire, duct tape and glue through halftime at Caesars Superdome on Sunday and remained in position to challenge Washington in the second half.

The combination almost worked: A quarterback switch from Jake Haener to Spencer Rattler and an energetic defense helped the Saints rally from deficits of 14-0 at halftime and 17-0 in the third quarter and only one failed two-point conversion attempt Recover No time left in regulation prevented a complete comeback by New Orleans as it trailed the Commanders 20-19.

In one of their most exciting games of the season, the Saints fell to 5-9 overall and 3-2 under interim coach Darren Rizzi, but left the Superdome having shown measurable determination and fortitude in defeat.

ATTACK: Above all, assembly was necessary for the offensive; Haener started at quarterback and completed four of 10 passes for 49 yards, with one interception, and was sacked three times in the first half. It also didn’t help that a first-down completion was ruled out due to a penalty and a chunk play was broken up due to a dropped pass. But obviously the Saints found momentum with Rattler, who completed 10 of 21 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown and was not sacked. His lateral to Cedric Wilson Jr., who then threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to running back Alvin Kamara, brought the Saints to 17-7 and was the momentum they needed. The running game didn’t provide much help — 69 yards on 16 carries — but Rattler appears to have evolved from his previous three starts. New Orleans needs a significant improvement in third down and time of possession between now and Monday night when they play Green Bay; it was 3 of 11 in the third period, which contributed in part to the Saints only retaining possession for 19:10 of the 60-minute game. Still, New Orleans managed to win by just two points, and that’s a good thing to say. The rationale for the attempt was sound – the Saints were running out of playmakers (Kamara was out of the game with a groin injury, Marquez Valdes-Scantling was evaluated for a concussion and was allowed to return) and the defense had been on the field for too long.

DEFENSE: Unit allowed nine first-down conversions on 17 attempts, was on the field for 74 plays and nearly 41 minutes, and saw Commanders’ rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels do it the same way he’s done it with others: 25 of 31 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns, plus a game-high 66 rushing yards on 11 carries. But the things the Saints did well on defense, they did very well: New Orleans held the Commanders to 20 points, and despite what the rushing totals say, it pushed Daniels in far enough and rallied around him around to record eight sacks (two each by Cam Jordan). and Chase Young, as well as one each from Demario Davis, Ugo Amadi, Carl Granderson and Willie Gay Jr.). As impressive as Daniels was, so was the sack total as the Saints stuck to their game plan and did what they set out to do on defense, which was forcing field goal attempts and getting after the quarterback. Washington’s remaining ball carriers combined for 24 carries for 71 yards, numbers that are more than respectable.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Blake Grupe recovered from two missed field goal attempts against the Giants and made 41- and 51-yard attempts against Washington to put New Orleans in position to win. Matthew Hayball also recovered well from the Giants game, with two punts being fairly caught inside the 10-yard line. There wasn’t much to say in the second leg, but the covering units did a good job as usual.