When Spencer Rattler stepped in for Jake Haener against the Washington Commanders, he led four consecutive scoring drives. Darren Rizzi’s explanation for inserting Rattler into the game was the New Orleans Saints needed a spark. Mission accomplished.
One of the more impressive things about Rattler’s game is how he performed in crunch time. Rattler returns to the starting lineup until Derek Carr is healthy enough to play, if that happens in 2024. The rookie will need to take some of the positives from end of Week 15 and carry them throughout the game.
Rizzi walked away from the final drive of the game impressed by some of the intangibles the rookie quarterback displayed.
Rizzi highlighted some of the impressive parts of Rattler’s final drive, including “the way he operated that that final drive, the way we managed the drive, managed the clock, understood the situation,” as well as that, “We got the ball clocked there to allow us to have one final play in regulation.”
What impressed Rizzi the most was Rattler handled the situation with great poise despite being in just his fourth professional game.
We’ve seen one rookie this year not handle a late fourth quarter drive with such calmness and efficiency. This is a good starting point and shows Rattler can handle himself when the pressure is on.
