The New Orleans Saints had the worst red zone offense in the NFL this season. They were only able to punch 20 of their 45 red zone attempts in for touchdowns. That equates to a 44.4 percent red zone percentage, right behind the New York Jets. It was easily one of Kellen Moore and the Saints' biggest flaws from the 2025 campaign.
Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon identified that 44.4 red zone percentage as the stat that defined the Saints' season. There was only six teams to have a percentage lower than 50 percent. This is one of the times you don't want to be amongst the few.
When searching for reasons the offense struggled mightily in this area of the field, pointed to the "abysmal" 3.7 yards per rush the Saints averaged in 2025. That could have been a stat that defined the season, but it's certainly a big reason the Saints struggled to turn yards into points.
Red zone deficiency is one of but not THE stat that defines the Kellen Moore's debut season with the Saints
The name of the game is scoring points, so it is hard to look past the Saints inability to score points in the red zone. They had the sixth least amount of attempts, as well, so they weren't getting there often and squandering the small opportunities they had.
I'll see Gagnon's red zone percentage and raise him first quarter point differential. It stays in the ballpark of scoring and tells the story of the Saints' season. They were outscored 122-29 in the first quarter, for a point differential of -93.
Just like the red zone percentage, you can see these issues clearly without a specific number or stat being attached to it. You think about the Saints season, and it was filled with comebacks and comeback attempts. The first game of the season was marked by the Saints charging back, but falling short against the Cardinals then doing it again versus the 49ers.
Tyler Shough orchestrated a comeback or a late surge in three of his five victories. It didn't matter who was at quarterback. Scoring in the first quarter just didn't come easy for the Saints. They picked up steam late, but sometimes it was just too late. The inability to start faster was the driving force between a win or loss on multiple occasions and could have been the difference between sitting at home and a playoff berth.