Darren Rizzi and the New Orleans Saints failed in Sunday’s 20-19 loss to the Washington Commanders.
They also didn’t stick with the same quarterback for the entire thing. The team left with former Fresno State signal-caller Jake Haener out of the gate, but that’s not who the team stuck with.
The Saints called on former Oklahoma and South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler around halftime after Haener completed four of 10 pass attempts for 49 yards with no touchdowns but one interception singular.
“We didn’t play the game we wanted to play in the first half. It wasn’t all about the quarterback,” Rizzi said after the game. “I just felt like and the offensive coaches felt like we needed a spark.”
Rattler seems to bring a new sense of energy to the New Orleans offense pretty instantly, even if he didn’t completely win the game for the Saints. There was a marked reversal of momentum, however, as New Orleans went to the house for the first drive of the third quarter with Rattler at the helm.
It played out in a pretty tricky game as Cedric Wilson found star running back Alvin Kamara to lead the Commanders to 17-7.
It will be interesting to see what Rizzi decides to do at quarterback with Carr once again sidelined with a major injury – the second time this has happened this season.
Rattler finished his day completing 10 of 21 pass attempts for 135 yards with a passing touchdown.
He didn’t say who he would go for, but one thing that remains clear is that it’s still anyone’s game between Rattler and Haener.
This article was originally published on Saints Wire: Darren Rizzi explains Saints’ mid-game quarterback change
