How Did We Grade the Saints in Their Debacle of a Preseason Game vs the Rams?

Sign up for the daily Saints Newsletter by clicking here.

That was not pretty. The New Orleans Saints were shutout in Los Angeles Saturday, as the Rams completely owned the Saints, 34-0, dropping the squad to 0-2 in their trio of preseason games.

See our weekly edition of The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly here.

Wanting to get grades back as soon as possible, here are the ones we gave New Orleans after Saturday's catastrophe, but before we look at the Pro Football Focus grading.

Offense = F

Three chances in the red zone = a missed (but very makeable) field goal, and a pair of turnovers (one that was a pick-six).

#Saints QB Spencer Rattler just threw a pick-six that was returned for 100 yards.

Brutal mistake from Rattler, who is competing to be the team's QB2. pic.twitter.com/RdiKVURUDf
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) August 22, 2026

There was no rhythm for the offense as it seemed like every position took a turn getting a flag thrown. Of the 12-infractions by the Saints in the game, totaling 96-yards, half of them were called on the offense: two for holding, an offensive pass interference flag during a solid screen play, one each for ineligible receiver downfield and a false start, and an illegal formation penalty that negated a 4th quarter fourth-down conversion.

Defense = F+

Either there was no pressure, no coverage, or no tackling as the Saints defense found a way to give up 34-points while its offense was scoring none. Rams rookie quarterback Stetson Bennett ran in for a pair of scores on the D.

Stetson Bennett showing off the wheels for his 2nd rushing TD 🏃

Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/wXNIMLBWLu
— NFL (@NFL) August 22, 2026

While also showing off nice touch, splitting triple coverage.

Stetson Bennett layers it over the defense

Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Dvb3NBR5jd
— NFL (@NFL) August 22, 2026

Who were the biggest winners for the Saints in its loss to the Rams? Who were the biggest losers? And what is the big question? Check out our thoughts here.

Why the F+, you might ask? The effort in the first quarter was better, giving up a field goal. Sure, the Rams scored a touchdown, but that was after a Zach Wilson interception in Saints' territory. We'll give them that one.

Special Teams = C-

There was the aforementioned missed field goal by rookie Tanner Brown. Shoulda mad it, man. However, punter Ryan Wright was booming his kicks into the stratosphere, making sure the two out of the four he booted would only average 7.5-yards per try. He put one down inside the 20 as well. Plus, the Saints cover team did a great job on the one kickoff return, a 25-yarder by L.A.

Coaching = F

Yes, there were so many faux pas on Saturday, there is enough blame to be passed around to everybody from the equipment people to the fans who traveled to L.A. to see this fiasco, but we believe it really comes down to the guy who filled out the calendar.

Maybe we're old softies, but putting together a schedule that has athletes who hit and get hit very hard for a living four times in seven days was a little much. Even though the 1st stringers took the lion's share of snaps on Tuesday and Thursday, the 2s and 3s took their share against the Cowboys and Rams in those joint-practices, too. The drop off by the defense should have been expected. Missed tackles, heavy legs, no push by the offensive line, being behind runners defensively, are all examples of heavy legs, tired people.

This should never happen again. Hopefully, lesson learned.

Mailbag Submissions

Wednesdays, On SI Saints will answer your questions about what we see from our vantage point. To submit your thoughts or inquiries click here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google