The last time Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase played a game at the Superdome, they claimed a national championship for LSU.
On Sunday, the stakes weren't quite as high but Burrow and Chase were just as stellar, this time at the expense of the Saints, as they fell 30-26 to the Cincinnati Bengals.
There was a lot of hype around Sunday's game. Burrow and Chase returning to Louisiana. Despite being a Saints home game, there were plenty of LSU fans cheering on the dynamic duo.
Burrow, who wore Ja'Marr Chase's LSU jersey to the game, said that it felt like a college environment.
“Yeah, it always does when you play in this state. The fans are crazy. It was crazy to come back and experience that," Burrow said.
Chase spoke on the atmosphere.
“It was crazy knowing that I was back home. The crowd was crazy. The fans were crazy. New Orleans fans and Bengals fans were both excited to see both teams. It was an unbelievable experience," Chase said.
But for Saints fans, they weren't rooting for Burrow or Chase this time around and were letting the Bengals hear it every time they took the field on offense.
The Saints scored early, with Andy Dalton throwing a touchdown pass to Tre'Quan Smith to give New Orleans a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Bengals answered as Burrow hit Joe Mixon for a nine-yard touchdown pass.
This back and forth would continue, but the Saints' offense came into Sunday's game shorthanded.
With Michael Thomas, Jarvis Landry, and Chris Olave all out injured, the Saints were lacking key weapons.
They had to rely on the legs of Alvin Kamara, who rushed for 99 yards on 19 carries in another strong performance, and Will Lutz, who kicked four field goals on Sunday.
Dalton was limited without his starting wideouts, completing 17 of 32 passes for just 162 yards and one touchdown.
The Saints' defense went after Burrow all game, sacking him three times. But that didn't stop the third-year quarterback from throwing for 300 yards and three touchdowns while completing 75.7% of his passes.
"Joe Burrow is probably more elusive than you give him credit for. He slipped out (of) at least two sacks today. I think their offense did a good job with a lot of quick routes. They made the most of it," defensive end Cameron Jordan said.
Chase proved difficult for the Saints to cover, as the second-year wideout caught seven passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
In spite of the Bengals' monstrous offense, the Saints held onto a 26-24 lead with a little over two minutes left in the fourth quarter and punted the ball back to the Bengals.
However, Joe Burrow threw a 10-yard pass to Chase, who shook two Saints defenders on his way to a 60-yard-touchdown. The Bengals took a 32-26 lead that they would not relinquish.
"We gave them the ball in good field position. You’re not going to be able to sit back and be ultra-conservative in that situation. We missed a tackle, and a good player took it all the way," head coach Dennis Allen said.
"I thought up until that moment we had actually done a solid job on Chase. Half of his receiving yards came on that one play.”
The Saints turned the ball over on downs on the following drive, sealing the loss.
The Saints fall to 2-4. Their next game is against the Cardinals on the road on Thursday, October 20, at 7:15 p.m. on Amazon Prime Video.