After a somewhat encouraging loss to the Buffalo Bills, the New Orleans Saints have fallen to 0-4 on the season, remaining one of three winless teams in the league. In a game few expected to be competitive, the Saints showed plenty of fight — battling through all four quarters against one of the NFL’s top contenders. After an embarrassing loss to Seattle the week prior, fans simply wanted to see signs of life from this team — and they got exactly that.
This performance gave the Saints a slight boost from last week’s outing, with several major outlets moving them up from the bottom of their power rankings. No, they aren’t a good football team right now, but this game certainly felt like a step in the right direction.
Here’s where the experts have the Saints ranked following Week 4 of the NFL regular season:
USA Today: 31st
“Not gonna be much to write home about for this team in 2025. But give them credit for putting up a tough fight in Buffalo on Sunday. And a tip of the cap to longtime DE Cameron Jordan, whose 229 starts here are a new franchise record. He’s also a class act.:
SI: 31st
“Spencer Rattler and the Saints gave the Bills a test on Sunday, but ultimately a few untimely mistakes led to a fourth loss in row. The Saints are set as underdogs in Week 5 in a winnable game against the New York Giants.”
Bleacher Report: 31st
“The New Orleans Saints showed some fight on the road in a matchup with a Super Bowl contender, but the Buffalo Bills still beat them by 12 points.
As a pro football team, the Saints should be competitive. Still, whether it’s Spencer Rattler or Tyler Shough under center, they’re arguably the league’s worst club.”
ESPN: 31st
“The Saints might have turned around the penalty situation with only four against the Bills, but coming into Week 4, they were in a tie as the most penalized team in the league. Thirteen of their penalties have come before the snap, such as false starts, illegal shifts and illegal motions. That’s been a concerning trend for a team that can’t afford to make mistakes on either side of the ball.”
CBS Sports: 32nd
“After a horrible showing in Seattle, at least they showed some fight against the Bills. They are too limited in terms of personnel.”
NFL.com: 31st
“OK, I can admit I was wrong to have them ranked 32nd last week. The 31-point loss to the Seahawks looks like more of an aberration so far, and Sunday was the Saints’ best effort of the season, coming against a very good Bills team in Buffalo. Spencer Rattler couldn’t win his first NFL game as a starter (0-10) on his 25th birthday, but he played pretty well again. There are multiple NFL starting quarterbacks worse than Rattler, and I think the Saints might actually have someone worth investing in. With Rattler, Alvin Kamara and Kendre Miller, they have some playmakers. There are still too many self-inflicted wounds all around, but I think the Saints will win a game in the next month — and they could surprise a team ahead of them in the standings.”
FOX Sports: 31st
“Spencer Rattler is now 0-10 as a starting QB in the NFL, and while he hasn’t been completely terrible this so far this season, he better find a way to beat the Giants at home on Sunday if he wants to keep rookie Tyler Shough on the bench.”
The Athletic: 31st
“Remember that 2017 New Orleans draft class that was so good? This isn’t that. Seven of the Saints’ nine picks are on the 53-man roster, and all nine are still with the team, but none are making major impacts. The biggest disappointment has been second-round quarterback Tyler Shough, who has only two attempts this season despite the fact that starter Spencer Rattler fell to 0-10 in his career as a starter Sunday. First-round tackle Kelvin Banks has started every game.”
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Week 5 power rankings: Saints’ winless start not inspiring confidence
