NFL Week 8: Must-See Storylines in Saints vs. Chargers Clash

The Saints need to find a way to win, no matter what.

Oct 17, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (18) passes against the Denver Broncos during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

NFL Week 8 sees the Saints (2-5) traveling to the West Coast to take on the Chargers (3-3). New Orleans, who is coming out of a mini-bye, has lost five straight after starting the season 2-0 and being the talk of the league. That feels like forever ago, and the latest loss to the Broncos might have been rock bottom for the team. They'll try to turn the corner this weekend, but their work is cut out for them.

Saints Storylines to Follow In Week 8

Nov 26, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New Orleans Saints center Cesar Ruiz (51) on the field prior to the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Getting Healthier

The Saints have a long ways to go to get to some semblance of full strength, and they'll unfortunately never be there with key starters being lost for the season. However, it's always the next man up mentality and New Orleans should get a nice injection of talent returning to practice this week. Lucas Patrick, Chris Olave, Pete Werner, Cesar Ruiz and Taysom Hill are among those who could be available this weekend. We'd expect Olave, Patrick and Hill at least, and we'll get our first look at the team on Wednesday.

New Roles and Faces

From the roster fallout, the Saints have added quite a few new faces to the mix and will be counting on some players who haven't played a ton. Alontae Taylor will be moving to the outside to start opposite of Marshon Lattimore with Paulson Adebo's season done, while rookie Kool-Aid McKinstry will go there when Taylor goes to the slot. Marquez Valdes-Scantling joins the team after Rashid Shaheed was lost for the year. It wouldn't be surprising to see recently acquired practice squad players Roderic Teamer or Shemar Jean-Charles get called up quickly for the Chargers game.

Rattler Repeat

Assuming Derek Carr does not make extreme progress this week, Spencer Rattler should get his third start for the Saints. Rattler is 47/75 (62.7%) for 415 yards with a TD and 2 picks and has been sacked 11 times. He also has 9 rushes for 61 yards. The protection breakdowns against the Bucs and Broncos have been concerning, and it hasn't helped that a run game can't get going either. Perhaps some returns will help things out, but New Orleans needs to put their rookie in a better situation. It would also help if the defense could defense this weekend.

Did They Learn Anything?

The mini-bye was an opportunity for the players and coaches to get away from football and spend time with their families. They came back to work on Monday, and so we'll see if the quick refresh will make any difference. New Orleans is entering a four-game stretch in which they have to produce wins, facing the Chargers, Panthers, Falcons and Browns before going on their real bye week. There's no quit in this team, but they have had a lot of problems that have plagued them.

The lackluster performances over the past three games have been the main concern for the Saints. The Chiefs game was the start, followed by an abysmal second-half collapse against the Bucs and then getting absolutely handled on the short week courtesy of the Broncos. Someone told me a long time ago that you shouldn't get effort confused with results, and they need results in New Orleans.