The New Orleans Saints have put themselves near the bottom of the NFL with their 2-8 record, and many have moved on to start trying to figure out the draft pick orders for 2026. While that is a rather common notion, the Saints do still have a multitude of games left to play out, and after a Week 10 victory, there are some reasons to be optimistic about this squad moving forward.
Here are three of the notable pieces of positive momentum as New Orleans heads into their Week 12 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
1. Tyler Shough seems to have found his footing in Week 10
One of the biggest components of the failure of the Saints has been their inability to get the offense going, no matter what was changed. With injuries piling up and really just a lack of overall talent, the expectations were low heading into Week 10. However, Tyler Shough started to showcase some promise in that game, completing 19 of his 27 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
This is the type of performance the Saints need to succeed, and while it was by no means perfect, it was about as close as you can get to it with a rookie quarterback in his second start.
2. The Falcons have looked absolutely abysmal this year as well
One thing that will help out the Saints is that the Falcons are just in a terrible position overall, and they cannot figure out which quarterback to start. While Shough is definitely the starter for New Orleans currently, Atlanta ended up switching between Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. last week in another loss, and neither one looked good at all against a team the Saints beat only a week prior.
While it is difficult to prepare without knowing the quarterback for certain, the Saints have the benefit of knowing neither one has looked good so far in 2025.
3. The Saints’ defense looked spectacular against the Carolina Panthers
A huge boon to the Saints’ chances against the Falcons is their defense, which was absolutely lights out against Carolina. While it has been shaky throughout the year against most opponents, they were near perfect against the Panthers, only allowing seven points and 124 yards through the air. That type of secondary is killer when the opposing quarterback(s) are underperforming, and that should be to their benefit heading into Week 12.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: What are three reasons for optimism as the Saints head into Week 12?
