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New Orleans Saints craft most dominant game of season in 29-6 victory over Jets

'The energy, the juice, the way our guys are playing together I think is really special'

Check out the game action photos from the New Orleans Saints game against the New York Jets for Week 16 of the 2025 NFL season on Dec. 21, 2025 at the Caesars Superdome.

The New Orleans Saints achieved the goal many worthwhile acts aspire to in their regular-season finale Sunday in the Caesars Superdome.

They left the crowd wanting more.

Definitely, more of the 2025 season, which is heading in an upward trajectory that's fostering a hope and expectation that feels familiar. New Orleans (5-10) won its third consecutive game for the first time since 2022, behind a rookie quarterback who has led the team to a 4-3 record in his seven starts, and a defense that continued cresting with eight sacks and two forced turnovers while allowing six points (a season low) and 195 yards in a 29-6 victory over the Jets.

"We've talked a lot about making December football meaningful, and I feel like our guys have been really jumping on that opportunity," Saints Coach Kellen Moore said. "Win a few down the stretch here, have a couple more opportunities – the energy, the juice, the way our guys are playing together I think is really special. It's a special group in that locker room."

A group that lost 10 of its first 12 games – including three of the first four starts by rookie quarterback Tyler Shough – found its footing and collected three wins over NFC South Division foes Carolina and Tampa Bay, the top two teams in the division, in a five-game stretch.

Sunday's pummeling of the Jets (3-12) was New Orleans' most lopsided decision this season.

It was spurred by five Charlie Smyth field goals; career days from Shough (32 of 49 for 308 yards and a touchdown) and receiver Chris Olave (10 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns); more history from Taysom Hill, who ran for 42 yards on 12 carries, caught four passes for 36 yards, threw a 38-yard touchdown pass and became the only player in the Super Bowl era to top 1,000 yards passing (2,388), 1,000 yards rushing (2,545) and 1,000 yards receiving (1,002); and the best defensive effort of the season from a unit that has allowed 16 points per game in the last six.

"There was a bunch of guys making plays today," Moore said. "I thought it was a credit to our guys, just the relentless effort, the finish, the way they're playing together. The sacks – there's coverage associated with that, the way our guys are covering on the back end. And guys just took advantage of opportunities. That was really cool to see."

New Orleans overcame a sluggish open. Hill fumbled on the second play from scrimmage after the opening kickoff, and the Jets recovered at the Saints 37-yard line. The defense stiffened after allowing 27 yards on seven plays and forced New York to settle for Nick Folk's 29-yard field goal, the Jets' only lead.

The Saints countered with their own field goal drive – 43 yards on 12 plays – to tie the score on a 35-yard field goal by Smyth and after forcing a punt, Smyth capped a 35-yard drive with a 49-yard field goal to give the Saints a 6-3 lead 37 seconds into the second quarter.

The teams exchanged two more field goals in the second quarter and New Orleans held a 9-6 advantage at halftime. But after the Jets sandwiched two punts around a Saints punt to open the third quarter, New Orleans crafted a 12-play, 93-yard touchdown drive that lasted 5:20 and ended on Shough's 23-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Olave toward the right pylon.

The 16-6 lead essentially was insurmountable when paired with the Saints defense, which added six sacks in the second half and forced both turnovers – a fumble recovery and interception – on consecutive Jets drives in the fourth quarter. Jets rookie quarterback Brady Cook (22 for 35 for 188 yards and an interception, and sacked eight times) bore the brunt of the punishment.

"Went into this game knowing that this was one of those games we could take advantage of on defense," said Saints edge rusher Cam Jordan, the 15-year veteran who had two sacks to raise his season total to a team-leading 8.5 and his career number to 130, extending his franchise record tally. "Just a great defensive outing.

"We have such a talented young core. We have such talented veterans. We have a combination, and I'm mad that it took us this long to find some success because once you find some success, you understand how to win. And for a while, while we were in a drought, we were trying to figure out why we weren't winning.

"When you have six or seven games that were all within a one-score situation and we don't come out on the other side of that, that doesn't help you build confidence. But when you have these games that you start building on that's where you see it all pay off. And when you build that confidence, then you can roll in with confidence."

And leave both fans, and players, wanting more of the season.

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