The New Orleans Saints lost a competitive game to the Las Vegas Raiders to drop to 1-2. The loss was an unfortunate one but hey, losses happen. There's a major silver lining here for the Saints and that's something that fans need to remember as they go through the motions of this Week 3 defeat.
For one, the Saints battled throughout the game. Yes, they put themselves in tough positions with turnovers and other mistakes but they still fought hard. The same team that went into Baltimore and shocked everyone by coming out victorious still showed signs of being that team in the SuperDome on Sunday.
Also, it's clear that the Raiders aren't the pushover of a team that many thought they would be. They're 3-0. That's not a bad football team that New Orleans lost to on Sunday. Not at all.
Second, and this one is very important to remember, the Saints play in the atrocious division that is the NFC South. They're 1-2, which could be detrimental in some divisions but not this one. The Saints should be counting their blessings that they play in this division because it's going to give them a major boost throughout the year.
Saints took a tough loss but still control their own future
Both the Falcons and the Panthers are also 1-2 after three weeks of play and the Buccaneers, a popular pick to win the NFC South in 2026, are 0-3 and have lost Baker Mayfield for a few weeks at least. They'll be leaning on an undrafted rookie to take the snaps for them while the Panthers are inconsistent and the Falcons are still trying to find their identity. That just goes to show that the NFC South is still wide open.
The Saints host the Falcons next week in primetime and winning that game can move them to 2-2 and drop the Falcons to 1-3. They also have winnable games against the Giants, Steelers, and Browns coming up as well.
The goal is for this team to get into the playoffs and the easiest way for them to do that is by winning their division. That goal is still very attainable, even after a 1-2 start. It might have gotten a little tougher after losing to the Raiders but everything this 2026 Saints team hopes to accomplish is still there for the taking.
Hopefully, this game can be used as a learning curve for this young Saints team but there's still a lot of football left to be played.
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