METAIRIE, La. — The New Orleans Saints are showing signs of being more competitive, even as their record continues to get worse.
The low expectations surrounding the Saints entering this season appear justified after an 0-4 start that left them the only winless team in the NFC.
But after a 31-19 loss at contending Buffalo in which they nearly took a fourth-quarter lead, they sound like a team that believes it’s poised to break into the win column sooner than later.
At the very least, their latest showing was far batter than their mistake-filled road opener in Seattle in Week 3, when they fell behind by three touchdowns in the first quarter of a humiliating 44-13 loss.
“We have to use (the performance in Buffalo) as momentum,” rookie coach Kellen Moore said Monday after reviewing video of the Bills game at team headquarters.
“We didn’t get the ultimate goal, but there are some positives in this — the way our guys battled, the way our guys responded to a really challenging situation up in Seattle” the week before, Moore continued “Our sideline had a lot of confidence, a lot of juice, a lot of energy. We were right in it.”
Spencer Rattler fell to 0-10 in his career as a starter. But he didn’t turn the ball over, looked confident, completed a touchdown pass to Chris Olave and added effective scrambles in leading the Saints on four scoring drives.
Rattler also had the Saints in position to score another time, but a trick play that called for Olave to take a reverse handoff and throw to Rattler in the end zone was intercepted by Bills safety Cole Bishop.
Still, the Saints nearly took a fourth-quarter lead when Rattler passed to Brandin Cooks in the end zone for what initially was ruled a touchdown. Officials overturned the play on replay review, ruling that the tip of the ball grazed the turf as Cooks was still trying to secure the catch.
“We played some really good football; we just didn’t win enough of the hard downs, the tough downs, the third downs, the red zone,” Moore said. “They made more plays in those critical situations than we did.”
The Saints running game looked its best yet in Week 4. The Saints rushed 34 times for 189 yards, an average of 5.6 yards per carry. The Saints also scored a touchdown on an 18-yard run by Kendre Miller.
“Overall, I feel like the offense played its best game so far this season,” Miller said. “We made an emphasis that we’ve got to be able to run the ball.
“We weren’t running the ball very well the first three weeks so we had to change up a couple things,” Miller added, noting that the Saints adjusted their run scheme to favor more outside zone runs. “I feel like that’s what we’re good at … and we could definitely see it on display Sunday.”
The Saints red zone defense ranks 30th in the NFL, with opposing offenses reaching the end zone on 76.9% percent of possessions inside the New Orleans’ 20-yard line. Consequently, New Orleans is giving up 30.3 points a game, tied for 28th worst in the league, and the Saints’ average point differential of minus-13.8 ranks second to last.
The first interception of rookie safety Jonas Sanker’s NFL career came against the reigning NFL MVP. He picked off Buffalo’s Josh Allen to give the Saints the ball near midfield in the second quarter.
“Jonas did an awesome job,” Moore said. “I’m just really happy for this guy. This guy’s progressing every week. He played some really hard situations this week. He made the big-time interception, but he was matched up against some of the best tight ends in the league in Buffalo and he covered them step for step, made some great plays on the ball and he’s coming around in just a real special way.”
Linebacker Pete Werner had an opportunity to intercept a ball thrown right at him in Bills territory. It hit him in the hands and he could not hold on.
Moore said tight tackle Cesar Ruiz “likely will be out this week.” He was carted from the sideline to the locker room Sunday with an ankle injury after another player rolled up on his right leg from behind.
Chase Young still has yet to play this season after straining his calf during a Week 1 practice and it is unclear when he’ll return.
Meanwhile, Moore noted that tight ends Taysom Hill and Foster Moreau will be eligible to practice this week after starting the season on the club’s physically unable to perform list.
41 — The number of years since the Saints rushed 30 times in a road game, averaged at least 5 yards per carry, and still lost — as they did at Buffalo on Sunday. The previous time before that was in 1984 at Dallas.
The Saints host the New York Giants on Sunday in a matchup of teams with a combined record of 1-7.
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