Spencer Rattler made his 2025 debut for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, but his late game heroics weren't enough, and the home team dropped their season-opener to the Arizona Cardinals by a score of 20-13.
Rattler is now 0-7 as the starting quarterback of the Saints. Granted, Sunday's loss was the first time he's played with a mostly-complete team of starters... even then, he didn't do anything dazzling. You've got to imagine he gets one under his belt eventually, but it hasn't been pretty so far.
The signal-caller was in a heated battle all offseason with rookie Tyler Shough for the starting spot, only officially earning the role in the week leading up to the first game of the year. Rattler went 27-for-46 passing for 214 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. That's a roughly 58.7-percent completion percentage and an average of 4.7 yards per pass attempt.
Listen, Rattler was better than many expected heading into the game and gave his team the chance to compete. He protected the football -- with a few close calls -- and had great tempo in crunch time. He showed that he could be a leader on and off the field. Not to mention, Rattler was hindered by a struggling offensive line and some key drops by wide receivers -- one of which came on a perfectly-placed game-tying touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson with just seconds left to play.
Overall, Rattler handled late-game pressure and adversity extremely well in terms of his poise. He played too cautiously at other times throughout game, though that could be attributed to play-calling.
None of this means that he had a stellar showing against a bottom-tier NFL defense.
Rattler was among the league's worst signal-callers in most offensive categories, according to official NFL statistics. Only five quarterbacks had fewer yards per passing attempt than him, and his one completion of more than 20 yards was tied for the worst among all starting quarterbacks. His longest pass of the day went for just 21 yards: only Cincinnati Bengals' signal-caller Joe Burrow (20 yards) and Miami backup Zach Wilson (11 yards) failed to connect downfield for more yardage.
Currently, only 29 quarterbacks have finalized stats due to games in progress. Of those 29, Rattler is ranked 24th in passer rating and 25th in completion percentage.
Just because he was competent and exceeded low expectations that much of the fanbase had for him heading into the game doesn't mean he had a great day by any means.
Rattler was thrown into the fire in the 2024-2025 season. Now, he's had an entire offseason to shape up and work with the first team players; it's time to expect more from him.
Despite all of this, New Orleans should roll with Rattler for at least a few more weeks. The competition doesn't get any easier, and Rattler seems to have a strong mentality if nothing else. The season is still young -- give him more time to work with starters in a real game, and see if he can grow.
If the Saints reach October and it becomes apparent that this is Rattler's ceiling, why not throw Tyler Shough out there and see what he can do? He was Kellen Moore's unprecedented second-round pick for a reason, so there's got to be something there that shows he can compete.
It's too early to say what the rest of the season could bring for either quarterback, but one thing is clear: New Orleans can't be hesitant to make adjustments if necessary.