Andrew M. Greenstein
With most of the starters watching on the bench, the Saints fell to the Titans Sunday, 30-27, in the third and final game of the preseason at the Superdome.
With Derek Carr solidified as the starter at quarterback, Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler split the load Sunday.
Haener, in his third season from Fresno State, completed eight of 17 passes for 87 yards; while Rattler, a rookie from South Carolina, went seven for 13 for 105 yards and a touchdown.
“The second half was designed to be Jake in the 3rd quarter (and) Spencer in the 4th quarter,” Saints Head Coach Dennis Allen said after the game. “And then when you started to look at the play count, I think Spencer was at 27, 28 plays or something like that and Jake was 15 to 18 plays, something, so I kind of wanted to even up the play count a little bit.”
The big decision for Coach Allen is which one will be the number one backup to Carr come Week 1 of the regular season.
“I just put my best foot forward, I wanted to come out here and play well, play clean, protect the ball and lead our team to scores,” Rattler said after the game. “I’m controlling what I can. That’s not up to me to decide, but (I’m) just putting my best foot forward.”
The Saints had two touchdowns called back due to offensive holding penalties.
Early in the 2nd quarter, an 11-yard run by James Robinson was nullified by a holding call against tight end Michael Jacobson; and early in the 3rd quarter, an 18-yard pass from Haener to A.T. Perry was called back due to a holding penalty on tackle Josiah Ezirim.
“That’s part of why we play preseason games,” says Coach Allen. “We’re trying to iron some of those things out, so it was unfortunate that that happened in the game.”
The play of the game came at the end of the first half.
With the Saints trailing 13-10 at the end of the 1st half, the Titans’ Nick Folk attempted a 58-yard field goal.
It came up short, and Samson Nacua caught the ball at the very back of the end zone and nearly ran it all the way back for a touchdown, but he was pushed out of bounds by Titans tight end Thomas Odukoya three yards shy of the end zone.
“That’s a play that very rarely shows up in our game; but when you really think about it, that’s why we work that situation,” said Allen. “The coverage unit is generally offensive linemen, sometimes you might have a (defensive) lineman, tight ends, those are the type of players. And so there are more skill players on the return team at that time, and it’s a space game. And that’s not the game that those guys are used to playing in, but I thought their guy (Odukoya) did a nice job of making the play and getting enough of him to get him out of bounds.”
Whether that’s enough for Nacua to win a spot on the Saints’ 53-man roster remains to be seen.
“You’re not going to look at that play and that play alone and say, ‘Okay, you know, we’re going to base all of our decision on that play alone,'” says Allen. “And yet, that’s part of however many plays we’ve seen, that’s just part of the evaluation.”
The star of the second half for the Saints was Jacob Kibodi.
The rookie running back who grew up in Baton Rouge and attended U-L Lafayette scored two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, 11 and two yards, respectively.
For Kibodi, it was a long time coming to play in the Superdome once again; he had not played in the dome since high school.
“We (UL) had two bowl games here, and I wasn’t able to play in them,” Kibodi noted. “I told myself, ‘God, save this moment for me right now,’ so I’m glad I was able to come out here and have a good showing.”
The Titans scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:25 left in the 4th quarter on a five-yard pass from Malik Willis to Bryce Oliver.
The Saints had one more chance, but they could only advance to their own 40 yard line when time expired.
Rattler said playing in front of home fans for the first time was a great experience.
“It was awesome. Great environment. Fans were awesome, energy was high, you could feel it. It was great.”
The Saints wrapped up their preseason with a 1-2 record and will open their regular season at the Superdome on Sunday, Sept. 8 vs. the Carolina Panthers.
Until then, the waiting game is on for players on the bubble for making the Saints’ 53-man roster, including linebacker Anfernee Orji.
The Vanderbilt alum from Rockwall, Texas, is trying to make the squad after falling short last year.
“I can’t go back in time and change anything I’ve done,” said Orji. “I feel like I’ve had a good camp. I felt like I’ve done everything I needed to do, so (I’m going to) pray to God and hope for the best.”
Kibodi says making the team would be the culmination of a lifelong ambition.
“I used to be a kid here watching Duce (McAllister) and Reggie (Bush) and Drew Brees play,” said Kibodi. “To make the team, it would be a dream come true.”
The deadline for NFL teams to reduce their rosters to 53 is 3:00 p.m. CDT Tuesday.
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