{"id":372905,"date":"2026-08-16T10:10:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T10:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/372905\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T10:10:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T10:10:47","slug":"saints-allow-18-unanswered-to-drop-preseason-opener-to-jacksonville-24-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/372905\/","title":{"rendered":"Saints allow 18 unanswered to drop preseason opener to Jacksonville, 24-20"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Saints allowed 18 unanswered points in the second half and suffered a 24-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Saturday\u2019s preseason opener for both teams.<\/p>\n

New Orleans held a 20-6 halftime lead, but Jacksonville erased the deficit in the second half, gaining nearly 200 years and scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Saints had one final opportunity to win, but their last-second touchdown attempt fell incomplete.<\/p>\n

\"good\"good<\/a>
\nHow it happened<\/p>\n

The game got off to a fast start when veteran running back Ty Chandler returned the opening kickoff 86 yards. It was the Saints\u2019 longest preseason kickoff return since Aug. 12, 2010.<\/p>\n

The return set up New Orleans\u2019 opening touchdown, as running back Audric Estim\u00e9 scored on a 9-yard run just 21 seconds into the game. Estim\u00e9 later left in the second quarter after taking an awkward hit on a reception.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"New Orleans Saints running back Audric Estim\u00e9 (30) scores during the first half of an NFL preseason football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n

The Saints\u2019 defense also made its presence felt in the first half. Linebacker Jaylan Ford and defensive back Jayden Price each recorded an interception, with Price\u2019s pick setting up a touchdown pass to rookie tight end Oscar Delp.<\/p>\n

New Orleans recorded three sacks in the first half and four for the game, with edge rusher Michael Hoecht recording two.<\/p>\n

Saints kicker Tanner Brown connected on field goals of 49 and 29 yards, with the latter coming as time expired in the first half to give New Orleans a 20-6 lead.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"New Orleans Saints running back Ty Chandler, right, runs with the ball past Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Corey Ballentine during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo\/Gerald Herbert)<\/p>\n

The Jaguars came out of halftime moving the ball quickly, eventually scoring on a 1-yard pass from quarterback Carter Bradley to Hunter Long.<\/p>\n

Little added a 36-yard field goal to open the fourth quarter, cutting the Saints\u2019 lead to 20-17.<\/p>\n

Jacksonville then took the lead when J\u2019Mari Taylor broke loose for a 78-yard run before scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run. The Jaguars\u2019 comeback gave them 18 unanswered points and a 24-20 victory.<\/p>\n

What the coach said<\/p>\n

New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore praised his team\u2019s effort despite the second-half collapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove the way our guys competed, feel like we got some good stuff out there,\u201d Moore said. \u201cPlenty of growth for their future. I was proud of all three of those quarterbacks giving us a chance to win. I feel really good about our entire quarterback room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quarterback numbers<\/p>\n

With most of the Saints\u2019 starters, including quarterback Tyler Shough, sitting out the preseason opener, Spencer Rattler and Zach Wilson had an opportunity to make their cases in the battle for the backup quarterback job.<\/p>\n

Wilson appeared more polished, completing 11 of 16 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

Rattler finished 8 of 11 for 42 yards and lost a fumble.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler fumbles as he is sacked by Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Yasir Abdullah, right, during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo\/Ella Hall)<\/p>\n

Former USFL player Hunter Dekkers played the final 8:27 and nearly engineered a game-winning drive. However, his final pass fell incomplete in the left corner of the end zone.<\/p>\n

Dekkers finished 8 of 15 for 69 yards.<\/p>\n

Southern Miss alumnus Nick Mullens started at quarterback for Jacksonville, with starter Trevor Lawrence sitting out, and completed 3 of 7 passes for 33 yards with an interception.<\/p>\n

Next up<\/p>\n

The Saints will travel to the Los Angeles area on Monday ahead of joint practices against the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday and the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday.<\/p>\n

New Orleans will then face the Rams in a preseason game Saturday at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New Orleans Saints allowed 18 unanswered points in the second half and suffered a 24-20 loss to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-372905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}