The New Orleans Saints ran into some familiar traps during a 25-19 loss to the Patriots that dropped this year's record to 1-5.
There was the slow start on defense for the 4th consecutive game, a key turnover to torpedo a drive in the second half, promising drives ending in field goals and a lot more. Those are all going to be growth opportunities for this young roster, Saints head coach Kellen Moore said during his weekly spot on WWL Radio, and he expects his group to use them.
That's particularly true on defense and correcting the issues that have led to the Saints defense surrendering touchdowns on the oppositions' opening two possession for four consecutive games.
“We’re not starting games fast enough, and it’s not every play, it’s those critical, big moment plays and so this past game was similar," Moore told Bobby Hebert and Mike Hoss. "Really good run stop on play 1, play 2, put them in 3rd and 9, really favorable situation and they convert on the big-time third down and then, you know, right after that they’re hitting the bomb for a touchdown and so we’ve got to take advantage of these opportunities that are ahead of ourself. We’ve got to play better early, and there are some growth opportunities, for sure, for us.”
Hear the full, exclusive interview with Saints head coach Kellen Moore in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
It was a popular topic in the postgame with several defensive players addressing the issue, but identifying the problems are not as simple as fixing them. Third and long was an issue as well, similar to the losses in Weeks 1 and 2. The Saints defense forced eight instances of 3rd and 7 or longer, but only got off the field in three of those situations. Two of those 3rd and long snaps directly preceded the Patriots' opening touchdowns, while another was the long, contested catch that gave New England a fresh set of downs that they used to run out the clock.
“We’ve got to play cleaner. We’ve got to execute at a higher level," Moore continued. "We’ve got to give ourself a cleaner opportunity there to compete in the first quarter. ... I think a lot of it comes down to third downs, you’ve got to get off the field early in games. You’ve got to play clean football and give yourself a chance and so it’s certainly something that we have to navigate and get better at.”
The Saints will look to change that trend as they had back on the road to face the Chicago Bears, a team fresh off a a road upset of the Commanders on Monday Night Football. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy.
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MORE FROM MOORE
How can the young DBs bounce back from a tough game?
“Playing defensive back in the NFL is about resiliency and ability to play well, have a mistake, overcome it, be right in position and a player makes a play and then be able to respond and so that’s — that’s part of the job description for those guys is they’ve got to be really resilient players and so is there technique, is there fundamentals, is there scheme work that those guys can continue to grow in and get better, absolutely, but they’re going to continue to grow and we have a lot of confidence in those guys continuing to get better moving forward.”
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How do you get better at finishing games?
“These games come down to the small margins. That’s what the NFL is, like you’re saying, a lot of one-possession games. … The big plays can happen from Play 1 all the way though the 4th quarter. You don’t know which plays they are, and so we’ve got to take advantage of each and every opportunity. The turnover ratio is a huge factor. You’ve got to create some turnovers. You’ve got to play better in the red zone, convert those drives into touchdowns, can’t beat ourselves in those situation and we’ve got to execute in situational football.”
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On Chase Young's season debut
“I thought it was great to have him out there. He played a little over 30 snaps. Certainly there were some positives that came out of that. He was able to create some pressure, and now it’s just about our group collectively and just finishing and creating those big negative plays from a defensive perspective, the sacks, the turnovers, all that stuff.”