Kellen Moore went into the game with a joke about the Saints’ sluggish starts, and it landed about as badly as the performance that followed.
Before kickoff, Moore tried to lighten the mood around the team’s recurring opening-drive issues, saying, “maybe the time zone change will help and we'll start fast."
That didn’t happen. The Saints came out slow again in their loss to the Steelers, and this time there was nothing at the end of the game to soften the blow. The quip aged badly because the same problem showed up once more, and the result only sharpened the criticism around New Orleans’ offense.
At this point, the Saints’ early-game issues have become a defining trait of the Kellen Moore era. They were slow to get going in Paris, and the problem has shown up under different quarterbacks with the same end result. The pattern has repeated enough that it no longer feels like a one-off.
What made it easier to stomach earlier in the season was the way the Saints finished. In the first two weeks, the offense at least offered a late push that hinted at something better.
That safety net has been gone for weeks now. Without those strong closes, the slow starts don’t feel like an annoying flaw - they look like a bigger offensive problem.
Outside of a 20-minute burst from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter, the offense has been stuck in neutral for the last month.
The numbers underline how rough the opening periods have been. New Orleans has just 6 first quarter points through 7 games this season, which works out to less than a point per game. Their lone first-quarter touchdown came against the Raiders, and even that drive wasn’t fully clean because the team missed the extra point afterward.
Moore will be the one expected to solve it as long as he’s in charge. But after the Saints’ latest flat start, there isn’t much evidence to suggest the fix is around the corner.
In Other News...
Saints Paris Trip Could Mean More For New Orleans Than Fans Realize
The Saints trip to Paris ended up carrying more weight than a typical international team visit, at least for the state and city officials who tagged along. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and other leaders during the stay, while the itinerary also featured business networking events and talk centered on building stronger French tourism links with New Orleans.
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno used the trip to meet with Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grgoire, a sign that the relationship could keep expanding well beyond football. For the Saints, the optics of a European stage matter, but the broader payoff may be what comes next for the citys profile abroad and the economic ties Louisiana hopes to deepen with France. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Bye Week Feels Like A Crossroads For Bigger Changes
The Saints have reached the bye week at a point where the discussion is no longer just about fixing one bad game or cleaning up one phase. After a poor start, the conversation around the roster has broadened into what kind of reset makes the most sense, with alternatives to a head coaching change now in play as the team looks for some way to steady itself and create a better path forward.
Among the ideas being weighed are changes to the kicking operation and the coaching staff, along with the possibility of using the trade market to recoup value from the current roster. Veterans such as Justin Reid, Cesar Ruiz and Pete Werner have come up as potential names to shop, a sign that the Saints may be entering a stretch where short-term disappointment starts forcing longer-term decisions. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Bye Week Puts Kellen Moore's Biggest Problems Under The Microscope
A 2-5 start has left New Orleans heading into the bye week with more questions than answers, and Kellen Moore has plenty on his plate. The offense has been too uneven, the defense has had its own issues, and the coaching staff now gets a chance to step back and take a hard look at what has and has not worked through the first half of the season.
Moore said the break will be used to evaluate everything from offensive performance and coaching decisions to roster opportunities and special teams. The kicking game is part of that review, too, which only adds to the urgency of a stretch in which the Saints are trying to settle on a clearer identity and squeeze more consistency out of the rest of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]