Winning in the NFL is incredibly hard, especially when playing from behind early and often. As was the case in Week 6, being sluggish from the outset has been a bad habit for the 2025 New Orleans Saints. Kellen Moore is not happy.
Moore knows the Saints must come out with greater intent – specifically on the defensive end. The first-year head coach didn't mince words when asked about the matter following the team's 25-19 loss to the New England Patriots. You can tell this has been a point of emphasis, but his patience is ostensibly waning.
Hopefully, it's a sign of imminent change. The offense and defense have parted slow, and that's a recipe for disaster. 6 games into the year, and they've repeated this recipe often.
Kellen Moore gets brutally honest about Saints' struggles after loss vs. Patriots
"We're not starting fast enough from a defense perspective, and we've got to play better," Moore told reporters after falling to the Patriots. "We've got to have a sense of urgency to get out there and get ready to roll."
You can't get much more straightforward than that. Moore understands that allowing opponents to score touchdowns on their first two drives, as they've done in each of the past four games, is unacceptable. New Orleans doesn't have the firepower to overcome these situations, and even if it did, doing so at a competitive pace would be unsustainable.
New Orleans did well to recover and briefly take the lead late in the first half of their defeat at the hands of the Pats. However, they fell short and exacerbated a glaring problem: the Saints continue finding themselves in the unenviable position of needing to dig out of holes.
Regardless, Moore discussed the "frustration" in the Saints' locker room in response to their disappointing result against the Pats. No one considered New Orleans to be a contender this season, though they've fared better than many expected thus far. Nevertheless, the ex-Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator believes his new club has squandered chances to shock folks outside of the Big Easy.
"There's opportunities," Moore said. "I think everyone can feel that ... we had our opportunities [versus the Patriots]. We just didn't get it done."
Foes are essentially walking into their meetings with the Saints with 14 points. New Orleans was able to get away with it when facing an equally talent-deficient New York Giants squad. Yet, that becomes a recipe for disaster when matched up with an ascending Patriots group.