The New Orleans Saints had as many penalties as points in their season opener versus the Arizona Cardinals. The penalties actually outnumber the points if you account for declined penalties. That's a terrible way to start the Kellen Moore era, and that's on Moore.
The Black and Gold, who funnily enough were wearing gold and black, looked extremely undisciplined, committing 13 penalties on Sunday afternoon. Pre-snap penalties fall on coaching, and there was a bunch of those. The Saints can't afford to shoot themselves in the foot, especially not that many times. If they have any urge to win a game this year in the NFL, their discipline will have to be better in the future.
Moore says that the team cannot beat themselves. "13 penalties, a lotta mistakes in there that we just gotta clean up and put ourselves in a much better position to be successful," Moore said postgame. "The pre-snap, that was just simply not good enough. That doesn't meet the standard in any way. We had a bunch of penalties. In the pre-snap world, that's all under our control."
The New Orleans Saints' lack of discipline held back their creativity
The Tush Push was one of the most talked about things across the National Football League this past offseason. It was nearly banned this past offseason, getting through the voting committee by the skin of its teeth. When Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was brought on as the head coach in New Orleans, many wondered if the team in the Big Easy would learn the play.
Throughout the offseason, Moore has been noncommital on if he's added the play to his playbook in New Orleans., But he would quickly reveal his plan, having the offense roll out the iconic formation early in the second quarter. It was actually executed successfully, with the Saints converting on third and short. Unfortunately, the play would be called back due to one of the many pre-snap penalties committed.
Another "trick" play was scrapped due to another penalty; it was one that saw right guard Cesar Ruiz line up as an eligible receiver. Unfortunately, Ruiz would get a little overexcited and commit his second penalty of the game on a false start.
These are opportunities to catch the defense off guard that you wasted due to a lack of discipline before the snap stole that opportunity. Plays like lining up half of your offensive line out wide are the kind of plays you want to teams to have never seen before. So much for that, and so much for winning if the penalties persist throughout the season.