The New Orleans Saints' biggest issue this season has been clear to see: Far too few touchdowns in the red zone.
So just how bad has it been? New Orleans currently ranks dead last in the NFL in terms of red zone touchdown percentage, cashing in for 6 points on just 34.5% of their trips inside the 20 this season. That mark is nearly a full 10 percentage points lower than the 31st ranked team (Texans, 44.1%).
The issue was highlighted in the wrong way during a 24-10 loss to the Falcons in Week 12, a game that saw the Saints go 0-for-3 in those scenarios, including two drives down to the 1 yard line without touchdowns. Saints head coach Kellen Moore said the issue starts with the coaching and play-calling as he spoke on WWL Radio this week.
"You’re right there inside the 5 and trying to finish it off in the run game and we weren’t able to get it done. … It’s obviously very frustrating," Moore told Mike Hoss and Bobby Hebert. "We haven’t found the formula that works for our group. I’ve got to do a better job there."
Hear the full, exclusive interview with Saints head coach Kellen Moore in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
The Saints' focus on the run game in that part of the field was clear to see. Of the nine plays the Saints ran inside the 10 yard line, seven were runs -- though at least one was a read play where the coverage dictated a run. The two pass attempts were both by Taysom Hill, the first a designed rollout and the second a throwaway after a bad snap. In all it was Taysom Hill at quarterback for five of those nine snaps.
The Saints have now failed to score touchdowns on their past four red zone trips, including three that reached the 1 yard line. The Saints didn't have Alvin Kamara for the final two red zone visits in this game due to a knee injury that's been reported as a knee sprain. Rookie Devin Neal served as the lead back, but didn't register a carry in red zone situations. Neal will likely be in store for another heavy workload in Week 13 if Kamara can't go.
"We know the difference between scoring touchdowns and field goals down there, especially both those second half drives to be down there essentially on the 1 and not able to get it done," Moore said. "We missed our opps and it starts with me, obviously, putting ourself in the best situations and making sure we can get it done.”
The next chance to right the ship in the red zone will come on the road against the Dolphins (4-7). Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
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MORE FROM MOORE
On Tyler Shough's performance
“We obviously missed some situational football. We weren’t efficient enough on first down. We’ve got to be able to run the football cleaner on first and second down, we’ve got to be able to play cleaner football. Obviously there was five sacks in there, but we got into some obvious pass situations too many times and that becomes a challenge for everyone. I thought there was some good stuff out there for Tyler. I’m excited about his progression. This is going to be one of those just excellent, excellent learning films just go through and kind of dissect just to really spend a lot of time digesting all of it and so he’ll be better for it. He’s obviously gotten a few games in under his belt now and I’m excited for him to continue to progress.”
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On struggles early in games
“I thought our defense started well. I thought our defense started fast. They obviously created some momentum plays early. I thought we made some big-time stops there, you know, I thought there was a lot of positives in that from a defensive perspective. We had a sudden change, we still made the stop there, forced them into a really long field goal, they were able to execute. Kick return unit, I thought that was a big-time play by Tip. Offensively we, second play of the game we have a turnover on fundamentals, simply, from a ball-handing standpoint and then we missed our opp on the field goal in the red zone, so we’ve got to take advantage of opportunities when they’re there and create that momentum and just continue to put ourself in good position to continue to play mixed down football.”