Preseason has officially wrapped up for the Saints. The main storyline from the game was once again the quarterback battle. However, no one seemed to pull away. Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough both played well, but couldn’t separate themselves from their competition. Each had good and bad moments. It will all come down to an impossible decision by Kellen Moore.
Spencer Rattler got the start in the final preseason game. This was his first opportunity of the year to throw to Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. He ended the day playing three total drives. Rattler was 5/ 8, throwing for 43 yards. He led the offense to two scoring drives, each a long field goal by Blake Grupe. It’s worth noting that Rattler exited the game when all of the starters did. It could be a sign that he’s the week one starter, or it could just be how the coaching staff split the snaps.
The most important thing wasn’t what he did, but what he didn’t do. Rattler didn’t put the ball in harms way or create a turnover. Although he didn’t extend his lead on Shough, he certainly didn’t lose any ground while on the field.
Tyler Shough played well, but didn’t pull away
Shough entered the game with the opportunity to cement himself as the starter. He ended the day going 12/ 20 for 102 yards and a rushing touchdown. However, he couldn’t seem to put Rattler away. Their days were fairly even. Shough had more yards, but he also had a costly fumble which gave the Broncos the ball in the red zone.
The rookie responded quickly by leading a touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter that was capped off an eleven yard touchdown run by Shough. On one hand, this drive was against the Broncos backups, but he still led the team to points.
Despite playing three preseason games, this quarterback battle is still neck and neck. Whenever one player has a chance to seal the deal they seem to squander the opportunity. If this final preseason game told us anything it would be that there is no “correct” choice, each player has a serious argument on why they should start week one. Kellen Moore is going to have a difficult decision on who is QB1.