The New England Patriots need just one more win to match their total for all of last season.
The New Orleans Saints are coming off their first win of the season.
Two teams feeling better about themselves, featuring first-year head coaches and second-year quarterbacks, will try to build momentum when they meet Sunday afternoon in New Orleans.
The Patriots (3-2) had one of the most surprising victories of the young season when they went into Buffalo and beat the previously undefeated Bills 23-20 on Sunday night. It was the second consecutive victory for head coach Mike Vrabel, whose team is 2-0 on the road.
“What you did one week certainly doesn’t guarantee what you’re going to do the next week, positively or negatively,” Vrabel said. ” … We have a job to do. It’s the same every week. We’ve been disappointed when we’ve lost and we’ve been happy when we’ve won. I think we’ve responded well (to both).”
Drake Maye has the sixth-highest passer rating among starting quarterbacks (107.8), even though he hasn’t had a consistently productive running game to work with. New England is 27th in the NFL in rushing yards per game (95.2) and 28th in yards per carry (3.7).
“It’s got to be better,” Vrabel said. “It has to be better at the line of scrimmage, at the second level and then continue to try to finish and break some of those. We’ve had some good runs, it’s just not enough of them. Not enough double-digit runs that help your average.”
The Saints (1-4) scored the final 23 points to defeat the visiting New York Giants 26-14 last Sunday, handing first-year coach Kellen Moore his first win as an NFL head coach.
Quarterback Spencer Rattler got his first victory in 11 NFL starts. His passer rating (90.4) places him in the middle of the pack among starting QBs, but his 7.3 yards per attempt against the Giants was significantly higher than his 5.2 entering the game.
“Spencer has done a really good job of avoiding negative plays,” Moore said. “As a young quarterback there are plenty of growth opportunities for him, but he’s putting us in position to compete. He’s protecting the football and he’s keeping the team moving. Those are really positive things for a quarterback.”
New Orleans is ranked 29th in the NFL in touchdowns scored in the red zone, doing so on just 41.2 percent of its trips.
“I’ve got to do a better job there,” said Moore, who is the team’s offensive play caller. “A lot of it is we have put ourselves in unfavorable third downs. You can look at the numbers and they’re not good on third-and-10 from the 10. We’ve got to do a better job on first and second down.”
Rattler agreed that the red-zone production has been “iffy,” but added, “the running game is getting better and we’re getting more wide receivers and tight ends involved in the passing game.”
Only one Saint — starting cornerback Isaac Yiadom (hamstring), who did not play last week — missed practice Wednesday. Starting defensive end Chase Young (calf) was limited while practicing for the first time since the start of the regular season.
One New England starter — safety Jaylinn Hawkins (hamstring) — missed practice.
