It only took one half for Saints to pull the plug on the Jake Haener experiment

On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints decided to start Jake Haener against the Washington Commanders. With veteran quarterback Derek Carr sidelined with a hand injury, the young QB, Haener, got the first start of his career in Week 15.

Unfortunately, it was a short-lived experience, as the Saints decided to pull Haener from the game in the third quarter. After an ugly first half, Haener’s time as QB1 in New Orleans is over.

Saints bench Jake Haener for Spencer Rattler

While in the game, Haener completed 4-of-10 passes for 49 yards and one interception. He also was sacked three times, and ran the ball once for seven yards. With him at quarterback, the offense as a whole had just 38 total yards and zero points, as they trailed by 17.

In Haener’s defense, though, the first-half struggles weren’t all on him. He certainly had some bad moments, but Marquez Valdes-Scantling had a couple of big drops, the offensive line couldn’t get the run game going, and the team had a couple of costly penalties.

Still, it was seemingly the right decision to bench him, because Spencer Rattler provided an immediate spark for New Orleans. In his first series, the rookie quarterback completed 2-of-4 passes for 51 yards, including a beautiful pass to Valdes-Scantling. The drive was capped off with a touchdown pass from Cedrick Wilson Jr. to Alvin Kamara on a trick play, finally getting New Orleans on the board.

Some may argue that Rattler should have started the game, but with the Saints entering Sunday at 5-8, there was no harm in getting a look at Haener. Rattler started the three games that Derek Carr missed earlier this season, so the franchise got a pretty good look at their rookie. With an offseason of big decisions ahead for the Saints, it was smart to get a look at Haener in game, even if the look turned out to be bad.

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