3 Takeaways From Saints-Rams Preseason Clash

The New Orleans Saints headed into SoFi Stadium to clash with the Los Angeles Rams after spirited joint practice sessions. While preseason scores matter very little, a 34-0 shutout at the hands of the Rams was difficult to watch and digest. The Saints executed poorly, and there weren't many positives to find from Saturday afternoon's contest.

Here are three takeaways from Saints/Rams:

The QB2 battle should continue

While neither Zach Wilson nor Spencer Rattler threw a touchdown pass, both threw an interception, with both quarterbacks playing a half each. The problem is that after a nice showing in the preseason opener, Wilson looked very bad and posted an NFL rating of 28.1. Going 6-for-12, Wilson finished with 55 yards and an interception, but Rattler was slightly better. Not to say Rattler looked great either, but the former starting quarterback finished with 141 passing yards on 14/23 passing and a QB rating of 60.2. Oh, Rattler actually threw a touchdown pass. The problem is, it was to the Rams for 100 yards the other way. 

Bottom line, the competition should continue in the preseason finale. 

Easton Kitty plays all the snaps at LG

The second-year offensive lineman was an iron man on Saturday, playing all 56 snaps at left guard and finishing with another stellar outing. Last week, Kitty played 21 snaps and finished with a 86.7 offensive grade, 78.6 run blocking grade, and 83.8 pass blocking grade. 

Saturday afternoon, Kitty finished with an 85.9 offensive grade, 90.0 run blocking grade, and 63.7 pass blocking grade. The only blemish on on Kitty's record is a QB hit and pressure allowed. This is good news for the Saints offensive line and depth. 

Jackson Sirmon leads the team in tackles

Sirmon played 40 snaps at MLB and finished with a team-high seven tackles. The third-year linebacker also finished with an 80.2 tackling grade, which is back-to-back games for the former New York Jet. Sirmon also added a defensive stop, pressure, and QB hurry. It was hard to take anything positive away from the Saints' defensive performance, but Sirmon played hard and put good things on film.

The only real blemishes for Sirmon were in coverage, allowing both of his intended targets to haul in the passes for 23 yards.