Saints Blow 14-point Halftime Lead Despite Zach Wilson’s Impressive Preseason Debut

Sign up for the daily Saints Newsletter by clicking here.

The New Orleans Saints' performance in the first half was overshadowed by a second-half collapse in its first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Saints allowed 18 unanswered points, falling 24-20. Jacksonville running back J’Mari Taylor scored the game-winning touchdown with 4:55 left to go in the game. He finished with 22 carries for 78 yards.

New Orleans held a 20-6 lead going into halftime, but it subbed out most of the second-team defense that played the entire first half.

"I think it was a fun battle with those guys. I loved the way our guys competed, and we added what we did this last few days with Jacksonville from a joint practice to this preseason game," Saints head coach Kellen Moore observed. "I felt like we had some really good work, and I feel like we got some good stuff out of this, and our guys are going to be able to grow and learn from it."

Wilson on a Tear

Nonetheless, Saints quarterback Zach Wilson put on a show, completing 11 of his 16 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. He had three throws of 20 yards or more with a 28-yard and 37-yard pass to Bub Means and a 28-yard pass to Barion Brown.

Means led the Saints with four catches for 77 yards.

Audric Estime impressed in limited action, rushing five times for 28 yards and scored the game-opening touchdown. With Devin Neal and Kendre Miller both inactive due to injuries, Estime may have established himself as the No. 3 back with his performances as of late, depending on his recovery. An ankle injury forced the third year back out of Notre Dame to the sidelines.

Linebacker Jaylan Ford finished with eight tackles, a pass deflection and an interception.

Safety Jayden Price also had an interception to go along with two pass breakups.

Defensive end Michael Heldman had three tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.

Cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. had a team-high three pass breakups and nearly picked off a pass.

1st Half

Ty Chandler opened up the game with a big kickoff return, weaving his way through the wedge before breaking off into open space before being taken down at the 9-yard line for an 86-yard run back.

Aug 15, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Audric Estime (30) leaps over Jacksonville Jaguars defensive back Jabbar Muhammad (37) for a touchdown run during the first quarter at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

That would allow Estime to score from 9 yards out on a great effort play, breaking off several would-be tacklers for the score.

On the ensuing drive, Jacksonville was putting together a nice drive and found itself on New Orleans’ 14-yard line. However, Mullens made a bad read and threw it right to Ford, who would ramble 14 yards before being brought down.

After a tough series for New Orleans on the next drive, Garrett Nelson would come up with a huge sack on third and long to force the field goal, to make it a 7-3 ballgame. Despite another stop by the Saints’ defense, Rattler would cough up the ball on a strip sack from …

However, the Saints’ D would come up clutch once again as Myles Cole would have a tackle for loss for 7 yards, a big-time pass breakup from Martin Emerson Jr. and a combined sack for both Cole and Michael Heldman, forcing another field goal for Jacksonville.

The Saints would get some points on the board after a 49-yard field goal from Tanner Brown, but it was a disappointing end to a once-promising drive.

However, safety Jayden Price would come up with an interception off of Bradley, which ultimately set up Wilson’s 28-yard pass to Bub Means, which was originally ruled a touchdown before being ruled that the ball did not cross the plane. However, Wilson would get his on the next play when he found rookie tight end Oscar Delp for the 1-yard touchdown pass to increase the Saints’ lead to 17-6.

The Saints made it a 20-6 ball game going into halftime when Brown hit his second field goal of the game from 29 yards out with no time left on the clock.

Wilson made several big-time throws throughout the drive with a 37-yard pass to Bub Means down the sidelines and a 28-yard pass to Barion Brown two plays later. However, the Saints could not score a touchdown as Wilson just missed Means by inches.

"I thought Zach did a really good job," Moore said. "He continued what we've seen throughout training camp. I think our quarterbacks have been playing at a really high level. You know, it's a really, really talented group, but a group that's just getting better. I think they're all younger than you realize, plenty of growth in their futures, and so I thought Zach did a good job."

Second half

The Jaguars would open the second half with a 10-play, 79-yard scoring drive that was finished off by a 1-yard touchdown pass from Carter Bradley to Carter Long. Running back Taylor would convert the two-point conversion to make it a 20-14 ballgame with 8:53 left in the third quarter.

Taylor had four carries for 32 yards on that drive, with two of them being first-down runs.

The Saints’ offense would stall after Wilson got sacked for 14 yards on first down in Jaguars territory. Despite going three-and-out, Wilson did enough to at least get them back into field-goal range. However, Charlie Smyth would miss from 52 yards out.

However, the sluggish second half continued as the Jags took a 24-20 lead with 4:55 left in the game.

Taylor’s go-ahead two-yard score was set up by a 43-yard pass from Joey Aguilar to Trebor Pena at New Orleans’ two-yard line.

That touchdown would mark 18 unanswered points for Jacksonville.

However, the Saints would start marching down the field vigorously with Hunter Dekkers leading the Saints close to the redzone with a 22-yard pass completion to Jalen Moreno-Cropper to get on the Jaguars' 25-yard line.

However, Dekkers' pass to Cropper would be tipped in the endzone with no time left on the clock, ending the game

Winners and Losers

Who were the biggest winners for the Saints in Saturday's first preseason game? Who were the biggest losers? Check out our thoughts here.

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