The NFC South may still look up for grabs on paper, but the Saints haven’t earned the right to talk like they’re in control of anything yet.
That’s the uncomfortable truth hanging over New Orleans after five games. Yes, the division remains a mess.
Yes, nobody has separated. But the Saints have spent too much time exposing their own flaws to act like the standings are the only thing that matters.
At this point, the bigger question isn’t whether the NFC South is open. It’s whether the Saints are even built to take advantage of it.
The rest of the division has left enough room for hope. The Panthers are 2-2 and sitting in first place.
The Falcons are 2-3 and still feel like a team with some unknowns after looking sharp for two weeks with Michael Penix Jr. before getting walked down by Snoop Huntley on Sunday Night Football. The Panthers also look better than they did a year ago, which is exactly what you’d expect when youth is driving the conversation.
But that’s where the clean, simple part ends.
For the Saints, the last three games have been a rough case study in what isn’t working. They haven’t handled the blitz well, they’ve struggled to protect the ball and they’ve had trouble stringing together anything that resembles sustained momentum.
The slow starts were already a problem when the offense had a late spark to lean on. Now that finishing kick is gone too, and the whole thing has started to look just plain ugly.
The defense has its own issues. What began as a bend but don’t break approach in the first two games has grown more frustrating by the week.
Early on, it felt like the Saints were at least holding their ground. By Week 3, when they couldn’t stop Brock Bowers, that started to look more passive than disciplined.
Since then, that feeling has stuck.
So when people point to the NFC South and say it’s still there for the taking, it can sound more like a distraction than a real argument. Forget the other three teams for a second.
What exactly are the Saints right now? And does that look like a group that can realistically win 8-9 games?
That’s really the point. The idea that the division is still within reach is supposed to be about possibility, not denial.
The Saints can still make things interesting if they clean up the mistakes that have followed them. But after what’s happened over the last week, it makes more sense to deal with one problem at a time and see whether they can fix the basics first.
A lot of what’s broken feels bigger than a simple adjustment, which makes the job that much harder.
In Other News...
Saints Pressure Is Rising Fast After Public Message To Kellen Moore
The early weeks of the 2026 season have already put the Saints in a difficult spot, and the frustration around the team has moved well beyond the building. New Orleans is 1-4, and team owner Gayle Benson made her dissatisfaction with the level of play clear in public, a notable signal of how quickly the mood has turned around a club that expected more stability under Kellen Moore.
Moore responded by stressing the organizations commitment to improvement, but the on-field results have not given the Saints much breathing room. With losses piling up and the schedule bringing the New York Giants next, New Orleans suddenly finds itself trying to steady both its play and its confidence before the pressure gets any heavier. [Read more 🡒]
Kellen Moore Is Feeling Real Saints Pressure After Gayle Benson Speaks
Kellen Moore is feeling the kind of early-season heat that comes with coaching in New Orleans, where expectations rarely wait for the calendar to catch up. After the Saints stumbled to a 1-4 start in 2026, Moore was asked about team performance and about owner Gayle Bensons recent comments pushing for results, a message that landed even harder after the clubs strong finish to last year.
Moore said he and Benson share the same goal of getting the team moving in the right direction, but he did not frame the conversation as one that requires a wholesale change in how the Saints are going about things. The pressure is real because the record is real, and while the season is still young, the patience around a slow start in New Orleans is usually thinner than the margin for error. [Read more 🡒]
Kellen Moore Addresses Growing Pressure Around Saints' Brutal Start
The Saints 1-4 start has naturally turned up the heat around Kellen Moore, but the first-year coach said he is not dwelling on the noise. Moore said he has not met with owner Gayle Benson about the slow start and made clear he has no problem with her public criticism of the record, stressing instead that his focus is on getting the team pointed in the right direction.
Moore said he and Benson see each other several times a week, but they have not sat down to talk through the issues that have followed the poor opening. He also brushed aside speculation about his job status, keeping the message centered on improvement and moving forward as the Saints try to steady themselves after a rough beginning. [Read more 🡒]