On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints barely avoided suffering the worst loss in franchise history in the 44-13 Seattle Seahawks beatdown. Once again, penalties were a major issue for the Saints.
The black and gold committed 11 penalties for a total of 77 yards given up. It is a continuation of the unfortunate trend for the Saints this season that has them committing the most penalties in the league, tied only with the Tennessee Titans. So far, through the first three weeks of the 2025 season, the Saints have been called for 31 penalties, giving up a total of 211 yards. That's an average of 10 penalties per game.
Head coach Kellen Moore says that the team has to put themselves in a better position moving forward. "We're not clean enough. Too many penalties, again, and too many of them were under our control." He said postgame, "There are judgment penalties in every single game, but the ones that we can control? We can't have that. We have to do a better job."
In 2025, the Saints have become their own worst enemy.
Of the 31 penalties committed by the New Orleans Saints, 15 of them (48.4%) have been pre-snap. That means that the black and gold have effectively become their own worst enemy, ruining whatever play they initially planned to roll out with. What makes that especially frustrating is that Kellen Moore acknowledged the issue back in week one, and despite bringing refs into their weekly practices, the penalties persist.
When asked why the penalties may be happening, quarterback Spencer Rattler said that he and his teammates have to be more dialed in. "We knew it was going to be a loud, tough environment." He said to the media postgame, "We had those opportunities, we had the looks, and we just shot ourselves in the foot with pre-snap penalties and a couple of post-snap penalties as well. We're going to have to harp on that all week. We have to clean that up, or it'll be tough to win games."
However, things could be worse for the Saints. Despite being tied for first in the league with 31 penalties committed so far this year, they are only seventh in total penalty yards. The Jacksonville Jaguars (218), Denver Broncos (218), Chicago Bears (218), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (229), Tennessee Titans (261), and New York Giants (277) are ahead of them.