The New Orleans Saints opened their 2025 season with a loss to the Arizona Cardinals. While the game didn't go as poorly as some might have thought it'd go, the Saints still lost and losing is never fun.
That being said, the Saints still had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds (or even win it, had they gotten the touchdown and gone for two). It's easy now to point out where the team could have been better but one of the eye-popping stats from the game is how much second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler dropped back to pass.
When the dust had settled in this game, Rattler had thrown 46 pass attempts, completing 27 of those attempts for 214 yards. The Saints were down by 10 points when the fourth quarter began but even then, there was plenty of time remaining and Rattler isn't the quarterback you want dropping back to pass on every single play.
Spencer Rattler throwing the ball 46 times is a wild stat for Saints
Kellen Moore spoke to the media following his first game as the head coach of the Saints and explained why Rattler threw the ball 46 times. According to Moore, the run game hadn't been efficient enough on early downs, which is why Rattler was dropping back to pass more.
The run game didn't necessarily have a bad day at the office with the unit rushing for over 100 yards and Alvin Kamara scoring the team's only touchdown. While they weren't dominating by any stretch, running the ball could have helped open up the passing game more because the Cardinals would have been on their toes a little more.
Hey, it's only one game and there's still plenty of football left to be played. No one is necessarily surprised to see the Saints lose this one but Spencer Rattler throwing the ball nearly 50 times is pretty wild considering the lack of success he had as a rookie a year ago.
Hopefully, Moore and the rest of the team use this game to help them in their remaining 16 games of the regular season. Otherwise, it's going to be a long year.
