Saints Slide in NFL Power Rankings for 2nd Week Running, Plus Saints On SI Composite

For the second straight week, New Orleans finds itself on a power slide.

Oct 5, 2026; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Atlanta Falcons linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. (56) tackles New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough (6) during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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A second consecutive home loss has pushed the New Orleans Saints further down the power rankings lists, as determined by NFL writers across the country. Here are those we found for you to peruse.

Sports Illustrated: 25th

SI's Conor Orr put things in perspective after dropping the Saints four notches in his rankings. "While injuries have taken their toll, this was the kind of home win that would have created ripple effects for the rest of New Orleans’s season."

CBS Sports: 23rd

Using the injury bug as a reason for the Saints losing two straight, Pete Prisco says, "Atlanta beat them up badly on Monday night as injuries have taken their (the Saints) roster apart."

ESPN: 21st

A three spot slide is given to New Orleans here, with Katherine Terrell saying, "The Saints suffered a humiliating defeat in primetime and now have to figure out how to fix their defensive issues, their slow starts, and their offensive line problems if they want to save their season."

The Athletic: 25th

A five-spot drop, and pointing to a lack of production in the first two quarters, the guys at The Athletic nailed it: "They’ve managed just 26 first-half points through four games (including only seven on Monday night), which threatens to dim a lot of the optimism around Tyler Shough and this team"

PFT: 25th

Mike Florio slid the Saints six spots, but we wonder if Mike even watched the Monday night game, as he said, "They’ve improved, but not nearly enough to contend."

NFL.com: 20th

Dropping four spots, these guys DID watch MNF, calling the Saints defense "a sieve."

Fox Sports: 23rd

The home of the regular season games for the Saints had the hometown heroes pummeting the most, eight spots. They point to two reasons for the team's failure: the injury to Travis Etienne Jr and "their rushing defense is terrible."

Yahoo! Sports: 23rd

A five rank drop for the Saints had this group saying the first two games of 2026 weren't the real Saints: "After blowing a game to the Raiders at home and being blown out by the Falcons, it looks more like that start was a mirage..."

Saints On SI Composite Rankings into Week 4

The composite score for each team averages each of the site's numbers.

1 - San Francisco
2 - Kansas City
3 - Seattle
4 - Jacksonville
5 - Buffalo
6-T - Baltimore
6-T - Chicago
8 - L.A. Rams
9 - Minnesota
10 - Denver
11 - Las Vegas
12 - Dallas
13 - Cincinnati
14 - New England
15 - Philadelphia
16 - Carolina
17 - Cleveland
18 - Detroit
19 - N.Y. Giants
20 - Atlanta
21 - Indianapolis
22 - Pittsburgh
23 - New Orleans
25 - Green Bay
25 - Houston
26 - Washington
27 - Arizona
28 - N.Y. Jets
29 - L.A. Chargers
30 - Tampa Bay
31 - Miami
32 - Tennessee

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