The Saints won their regular-season finale with a 48-17 victory over the rival Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in Caesars Superdome. Here are three things we learned.
Strong finish, but …
The Saints finished the season strong, winning four of their last five games. Two of those wins came against the lowly Panthers and Giants. But after a loss to the Rams, the Saints rebounded and avenged two of their losses on the season (Bucs and Falcons). As a result, they played a meaningful game at the end of the season. It helps, of course, when you’re playing in a division that nobody seemed to want to win. Unfortunately for the Saints, who finished 9-8, it was too little, too late. The Bucs also finished 9-8 to win the NFC South for a third straight season. Blowing that 17-0 lead at Lambeau Field in Week 3 came back to haunt the Saints in a big way. Dennis Allen got his first winning season, and all indications are he’ll be back. But they missed the playoffs. A 9-8 record with such a light schedule should be enough to prompt some personnel changes.
Good hands
Two seasons ago, all we talked about was how the Saints needed to get Michael Thomas some help at receiver. Well, the Saints seemed to have shored up their receiving corps in a big way now. Who knows whether Thomas will ever wear a Saints uniform again? What we do know is this: The Saints have a quality trio of receivers they can count on. All three of them (Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and A.T. Perry) caught touchdowns in Sunday’s victory. Olave and Shaheed, in their second seasons, caught one apiece. Perry, a rookie, caught two. The trio averaged 19.3 yards per catch Sunday, including a spectacular juggling touchdown catch by Olave. Credit to the scouting department for quickly plugging the holes in what was a glaring weakness on the roster just two years ago.
Carr’s big day
It took far longer than it needed to for Derek Carr to find his groove this season. It took so long that boos often rang out in the Caesars Superdome this season as frustration mounted for the fans. But Carr finally got things going at the end of the season, and the offense finally looked to be in sync. They capped it off Sunday by scoring 48 points, the most the Saints have scored since Alvin Kamara's record-setting Christmas Day game against the Vikings in 2020. Carr was almost flawless in this one, completing 22 of 28 passes for 264 yards and a season-best four touchdowns. Carr withstood all the criticism, and the end of his first season in New Orleans was far better than the beginning.
