Saints' Kellen Moore Is Already Running Out Of Time

This is the Locked On Podcast Network, celebrating 10 years of your team every day. The NFL season is finally here, and Locked On NFL is covering every second of it. You can find us breaking down all the action on Amazon Music every single day with bold takes and real analysis that matters. Opening day storylines, roster moves. If it's happening with your team, we're on it. No waiting, no fluff. Subscribe on Amazon Music and never miss a snap. New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore no longer has the benefit of the doubt. You are Locked On Saints, your daily New Orleans Saints podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. What is good, Who Dat Nation and Who Dat Family? I am your host, your Saints reporter and your friend, Ross Jackson. And on today's episode, the New Orleans Saints severely need to take a look at reworking the process that they love, but that clearly isn't bringing in results. The New Orleans Saints defense makes some big plays, but can't be absolved from guilt in this one. And the New Orleans Saints' biggest disappointment so far has been head coach, Kellen Moore. We got all that and a little bit of land you have for you on today's episode, which is brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel. For right now, you can check out their new rewards club, head over to fanduel.com to get started. So let's get into it. I start every single one of these episodes the same way that I have for eight years now. I always started off by asking, what is good, Who Dat Nation? And today we're going to start everything off with, what is bad? And that is this New Orleans Saints football team. And I say that in no way, casting aspersions at fans. Fans, much like myself, came into this season with higher expectations of this team. And so far, this team, and in particular, this team from the top at its coaching standpoint, has not lived up to a single one of those expectations. Now, they've gotten some very good individual player performances, and so I'm separating this conversation from the players as well. My biggest concern for New Orleans right now is the fact that Kellen Moore is 22 games in to his head coaching tenure as the New Orleans Saints head coach, and I'm not convinced they have the right guy. I'm just calling it like I see it. Now, listen, this is my opinion. This is not anything about how the Saints feel about their coaching situation. It's not about anything like that, right? The Saints, I assume, will continue to be patient. It is only five games into the 2026 NFL season. It is only five games into his second year as a head coach ever. I think that those things will probably lend themselves towards patience when it comes to this New Orleans Saints team. This team has proven to a fault that it will be patient. So I want to be very clear. This isn't me reporting or saying anything about the team and Kellen Moore. I'm sure that they're in lockstep with one another. What I am saying is that as an analyst removed from the politics of the game inside the building and just looking at the results on the field, I still have my questions. Look, this New Orleans Saints team has been led by Kellen Moore for 22 games. He's 7 and 15. That's not awful for somebody that took over a franchise that was hoping to not rebuild and they were putting a lot of faith in a bad quarterback in Derek Carr and that didn't work out. And then when that blew up, they had to change course and undergo everything. It felt like they got the right quarterback. I still think they have the right quarterback in Tyler Shough. And then they basically went into a rebuild situation. They lack depth, all these other things. So 7 and 15 is not a bad place to be for a rebuilding team, as long as you acknowledge that they're rebuilding. But it is at 1 and 4 here in the 2026 season, a massive question mark as to why this team is completely underperforming its expectations. Again, I had those high expectations, too. They are 3 and 8 at home under Kellen Moore. They have never scored more than 7 points in the first quarter with Kellen Moore, something that is absolutely symptomatic of their habitual slow starts. And one of the things that's been so remarkably frustrating and why I still have my big questions about Kellen Moore up to this point, is because of the consistency of the same issues. The team is often underprepared, the team is often undisciplined, and the team is often starting slow and not very innovative and all too predictable over on the offensive side. You can hear a little bit of that from Drew Brees during the call, during the broadcast call during this Saints game up against the Minnesota Vikings where they often scored 7 points. They have 13 points in total, but 6 of those points came on a fumble return for a touchdown, and then Daniel Carlson missed the point after his second point after attempt missed so far this season. So with the consistency of the same issues, the lack of sustainability in their play style and winning style, and the lack of results coming from their process, unless a player bails them out, oftentimes Tyler Shough, but I go back to like Chase Young up against the Tennessee Titans, for instance, last year, Chris Olave, and some of his early season performances, all of that. If none of those things are going to provide the progress that Saints fans were hoping to see, then bigger questions need to be asked, and that's why I feel like I'm not convinced yet. It doesn't mean that I can't be convinced. It doesn't even mean that I'm right. Just simply not convinced at this point. The Saints, since Kellen Moore took over, have held a single first quarter lead, have held only four first half leads, have the fewest first quarter points scored, 35 since the beginning of the 2025 season. In that same frame of time, the Saints also have the most three-and-outs, according to True Media, with 29. Take that in for a second. In the first quarter of games under Kellen Moore, since the beginning of the 2025 NFL season, the Saints have more, I'm sorry, my apologies, have only six fewer three-and-outs in the first quarter than they have points scored in the first quarter. Abysmal. Third worst turnover margin as well, minus 10. Now, some of these numbers don't include more than just the Tyler Shough starting era, but it shouldn't be up to Tyler Shough to bail out his head coach. Right? So I'm putting all of it together. Beyond that, the Saints also have the second worst rushing offense, which was expected to be Kellen Moore's kind of calling card when he took over here in New Orleans, at 3.7 yards per rush since the beginning of the 2025 season. That's second worst in the league during that span there. 4.9 yards per play average is sixth worst in the NFL. When you take out defensive scoring, this team has managed to score an average of just 18 points per game on offense. Good for number five, or excuse me, by that I mean fifth lowest in the NFL. This New Orleans Saints team is not well-coached, and it is not well-prepared going into matchups. You go back to the game up against the Las Vegas Raiders, the one exception. They seemed very prepared. They were ready to go in that one, but then what happened, they melted down in the fourth quarter. You got into this next clash at home up against the Atlanta Falcons where you were completely outclassed in that matchup. Now, this game where we knew the offense was going to struggle going into this one, it's a great defense when it comes to the Minnesota Vikings and Bryan Flores. But Kellen Moore is supposed to be putting together great offenses, innovating, scheming, all of these things. So when a great offensive mind goes up against a great defensive mind, it's expected to be a clash. This was anything but. The New Orleans Saints right now are struggling because they right now don't have the leadership that they need at the time. That is their biggest issue as of right now. That is so easy to identify when it's the same issues over and over and over again, and in particular, issues of preparedness and coaching. That is what we have seen over and over again. That doesn't mean that Kellen Moore can't get better. That doesn't mean that I'm not wrong. I could be dead wrong in this situation, but from my vantage point and where I see it, the Saints' biggest issue right now is unfortunately and more than likely the most important thing that they should have gotten right going into this year. And so Kellen Moore very quickly faces a fork in the road, if you will, where things either need to start going right very, very quickly or the path gets really, really dangerous for him if things don't. All right, coming up next, the New Orleans Saints defense certainly doesn't deserve a pass from this performance because they made some Minnesota Vikings look like they were in the primes of their career. Let's get to that next as we continue on with today's episode of Locked On Saints, by Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Today's episode of Locked On Saints is brought to you by our friends over at GameDay Men's Health. Your health is worth much more than some online survey, phone call, and then a box showing up at your door. It's not just a questionnaire, it's your health, your energy, making sure that you have your drive, making sure that you're just feeling good on a day-to-day basis. It's about much more than just a questionnaire, and that's why GameDay Men's Health is here to help you out. It's an in-person men's health clinic with more than 430 locations across the US and Canada, including one right down the road over in Metairy where you can meet face-to-face with a licensed clinician, get labs done in the office, and get initial results in as little as 15 minutes. Look, it can be hard sometimes, whether it be because of schedule or just genuine stubbornness as I am, to get us taking ourselves seriously from a health standpoint, but that can change with our friends over at GameDay Men's Health. Book your complimentary test and consult at gamedaymenshealth.com. Today's episode is also brought to you by our friends over at PrizePix. New Orleans Saints came up short on their projections. Tyler Shough less when it came to his passing projection, Chris Olave less when it came to his receiving projection. I said that I would continue to take more on both of those guys and their PrizePix projections until they proved me wrong twice in a row. We'll see what happens next week going up against the New York Giants. But that's how easy it is to play over at PrizePix. You pick two to six players and you choose whether or not they're going to come in at more or less than their PrizePix projections. You get those right. You can be walking away as a winner. One of the biggest things that I'm on right now is the kind of more for Tyler Shough and Chris Olave, something I'll remain with unless they prove me wrong here in this game up against the Giants' upcomings. Download the PrizePix app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $150 instantly when you win your first $5 lineup that's over at PrizePix. Run your game. All right, family, the New Orleans Saints offense struggled. Kellen Moore seeing a lot of scrutiny. But the New Orleans Saints defense and Brandon Staley not to be absolved in this matchup. The New Orleans Saints unfortunately helped the Minnesota Vikings find their way to an offense on Poitras. We appreciate you very much as always for making this part of your day, part of your routine, making it your first listen and being an everydayer here on the show. Make sure you go and check out our good friend Jake Madison. He's got a spicy episode for you over there as well. Over on Locked On Pelicans where he's breaking down what was not so great performance for the Pels as they head into their 2026-2027 NBA season. Make sure you go and check out Jake over at Locked On Pelicans today. New Orleans Saints defense made some big plays and they had some big moments. I mentioned the players that are making these heroic efforts in some cases that are keeping this team in games and in conversation. Tyler Shough when it comes to late game heroics, Chris Olave, Joanne Johnson when it comes to finding separation and making themselves available and making big plays for this team, so on and so forth. Over on the defensive side, that's not to be excluded either. Chase Young coming up with a good 20 plus yard return on a fumble, holding the ball out, celebrating while he's knocking guys off and all those other things. Just a guy that I think is consistently becoming the emotional heartbeat of this team. He spoke at the end of the season last year saying that he wants to be in New Orleans forever because he feels like he's found a home and everything. You can feel that dedication for him continue to play through here throughout this season. Had a half sacks, so now he's up to four sacks in five games here so far throughout the season. Carl Granderson came back, had one and a half sacks in this matchup as well. But the individual performances weren't enough because the Saints defense as a whole, which was down, some interior defensive players remained down when it came to Caden Ellis and others in the defensive side as well, gave up some vintage performances to a pair of players who were struggling to find their footing until their feet landed them here in New Orleans. Aaron Jones, the running back for the Minnesota Vikings, had 113 rushing yards in this game. His first game with at least 100 rushing yards and a touchdown since the 2024 season in week 12. Very similarly, Kyler Murray threw a touchdown with no interceptions in this game, 229 passing yards as well. According to the NextGen stats, it's Kyler Murray's first game with at least 200 passing yards, a touchdown, and no interception since week 18 of the 2024 season. The Saints defense underperformed so much that they gave up performances that are the best for Aaron Jones as well as Kyler Murray in two seasons. And on top of that, Justin Jefferson, who's been more of kind of like a boom or bust guy so far this season, but also still one of the best wide receivers in the NFL played like it in his return to Louisiana, six targets, my apologies, six catches on seven targets for 79 yards and a touchdown and triple cup. So this New Orleans Saints defense, which was shaping up to look like a strength going into this season, it had lost to Mario Davis. It had seemed primed to lose Cam Jordan, but Cam Jordan found his way back. They signed Caden Ellis. Caden Ellis, though, has been injured after playing every single game for three seasons over with the Atlanta Falcons, has now missed the last two games here in New Orleans. There's a illness that's running through the defensive tackles, and so guys like Nathan Shepard as well as Vernon Broughton were not able or available to play in this matchup. The Saints defense, though, didn't struggle because they were missing pieces. It struggled in the same way that it's continued to struggle over the course of the season. Ill-time penalties, big plays, explosive plays, surrendered. That has been and continued and consistent struggling in the run game. One of the things that Brandon Salie highlighted a couple of weeks ago, which was not untrue, is that the explosive plays are what have done the Saints run game in, or run defense rather in over the course of these past few, over the course of the first three games of the season. But then they run up against Bajan Robinson, who's the best running back in the NFL and certainly played like it. His 59-yard rush on the third play from scrimmage was certainly an example of that. Also, the Falcons' run game chewed up the Saints' run defense on a consistent per-down basis. The Vikings don't have a very strong defense, or excuse me, rushing offense. They don't have a very strong offense, but they certainly looked like it up against New Orleans, where they ran 36 times for 153 Russian yards. That includes 51 Russian yards to Kyler Murray, and in the after mentioned 113 Russian yards to Aaron Jones, 4.3 yards per carry. New Orleans Saints on the offensive side, 3.2 yards per carry. It's just the continued big time issues for this team, just over and over and over again. It's the same things, both on offense and on defense, and very little signs of heading in the right direction. Did they have some good moments? Yes, absolutely. Carl Granderson, excuse me, Chase Young coming up with the fumble recovery. You get the second takeaway as well from Jonas Sanker, who punches it in from 87 yards out to bring that back for a touchdown and give this New Orleans Saints team a little bit of life, taking them up ahead, or tying them up, rather, with the Minnesota Vikings at 13, all because Daniel Carlson, of course, missed the extra point, because why not? Second point after attempt missed so far this season. But then another touchdown, and then another field goal late, and there you go. There's your 23 to 13 deficit there. The New Orleans Saints did not get to a point to where it felt like this game got away from them, really, until the fourth quarter. Like, they were tied up. They were actually leading at the half. They were tied up at the end of the third quarter. They come into the fourth quarter and then just never really move from there. Things just never really came back together for them. And so this New Orleans Saints team is one that kind of needs everything to go perfectly. The offense has to be churning. The defense has to be churning at the same time. There have been a lot of examples here to where the defense has faltered and the offense hasn't been able to close the gap or the offense is looking good, but the defense has faltered too far. All these other things. Just right now a team that's struggling in all three phases for this New Orleans Saints team and the Saints defense definitely didn't deserve to come out of that one feeling very good about itself despite the very big plays that they did end up making. All right, coming up next, New Orleans Saints want to get this fixed, then maybe it's time to change the process that they seem to love so much. Let's get to that next as we continue on with today's episode of Locked On Saints, part of Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. What's going on, everybody? My name is Ross Jackson, host of the Locked On Saints Podcast. And today's Locked On episode is brought to you by our friends at Bask and Lather. I've been using Bask and Lather's all natural, 100% organic hair care products for my beard for a couple of years now. And it's been a lifesaver because I used to have some bad beard care habits. I'm talking over-the-counter shampoo in the beard type stuff that created this brittle, scratchy and uncomfortable beard that I just had to wear around all the time. But now the game done changed. Thanks to Bask and Lather, I got their beard care starter kit, which gave me shampoo, conditioner, oil balm, and their hair growth stimulator formula as well. And now my beard is full. It's soft but strong and the confidence is on 10 and it's all thanks to Bask and Lather. Explore viral best sellers and products of healthier hair of all types from Bask and Lather. Go to baskandlathercode.com and use the promo code LockedOn for 20% off. That's 20% off at baskandlatherco.com, code LockedOn. Today's episode also brought to you by our friends over at FanDuel, the best place to go to get in on the action here, this NFL season, college football, the MLB playoffs as well, and of course the NBA season right around the corner. You can get in on all of that and FanDuel's new Rewards Club, where you're going to get things like bonuses, surprises, and much more. All you got to do is head over and download the FanDuel app every week. There'll be something new waiting for you there as a part of their Rewards Club. The New Orleans Saints going into this matchup up against the New York Giants are one and a half point underdogs on the road. Then they go from New York straight to Paris to get ready for a big matchup. The first ever game in France up against the Pittsburgh Steelers. You want to get in on that and much more. You can find everything you're looking for over at fanduel.com today, where you can make this the most rewarding season yet with FanDuel. Visit fanduel.com today to get started. Let's get it, Who Dat Nation, The New Orleans Saints process isn't yielding the results that they want. So what's the right move? Stick with the process or change the process. I think we're starting to see a lot of evidence to why it should be the latter. Let's get to that here as we continue on with today's show. We thank you very much as always, because it's your first listen and being an every-day-er. LSU lost, Pelicans are disappointing to start the season. They didn't really do anything over the course of the off season. Tulane struggled, and now the Saints with the big-time loss as well. But if you want to find more, you can go and check out our good friend, Matt Moscona over at Locked On LSU, and hear how the Lane Kiffin experience is going over there. You'll also find us daily on the Golf Coast Sports Entertainment Network, and here on the No. 1 Sports Podcast Network, the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. The Saints have a process that they like, and they feel like the process and the players are right. You could hear Kellen Moore talk about that, but Tyler Shough did a very good job of highlighting their belief in the people, that they have the right people. And, look, you know, you buy that comment, don't have to buy that comment, whatever it might be, like whatever that, whatever the team needs to believe, the team needs to believe that we can look at it from a different lens from outside here. But it's clear that inside of the building, that whatever the process is that they seem to have so much confidence in, might be time to change it. Look, I get the idea, and Kellen Moore has talked about this before, I get the idea that you have your process and that the process is more important than the result. Mickey Loomis has said that before in the past. I disagree with it respectfully in that it's a results-based, results-oriented business. And so of course, the result is going to be the most important part of it. And when the result right now is averaging less than four yards per play through the air, or really four yards per play in a game, averaging less than four yards per carry in the run game since the beginning of 2025, not scoring points to start games, not having leads, right? This is a team that is now led, I think it's 17, or excuse me, that is now trailed 17 times by double digits in Kellen Moore's tenure thus far. This team right now does not have a process that is conducive for creating successful results. And I'll highlight something, I have to paraphrase it, but I'll highlight something that Tyler Shough said at the podium, where he effectively acknowledged exactly this point, that when you're not getting what you want out of the process, it is time to look at the process and evaluate it. And I think beyond evaluating it, making changes. Now the Saints changed some things about how they kind of got prepared and ready to go into this game. They wanted to start fast. And so like on Thursday, for instance, when they showed up for practice, they stretched, they immediately went into a team session. But is that enough? Moving one team session to the beginning of practice? Is that going to be enough to inspire a team to start its games faster? When they look under prepared to start games faster? Like it doesn't feel like it's the work on the field that's being done. It looks a lot more like it's the system in the scheme failing early on in the game, because the Saints can seem to consistently run up against something they didn't expect to see from the opposing team. Now, that's the job of the opposing team. The job of the opposing team is to give you unscouted looks. But is that really happening to you every single game, for you're being surprised by that, and where are your unscouted looks that you're giving some of these teams? Where are your wrinkles and easy buttons, play action, screen passes, things like that? All of that lacks from this New Orleans Saints team. And so it's starting to get to the point where it feels like this process that they like so much might not be worth continuing to invest in. All right, let's get to a little bit of land yet for the real ones who made it to this point in the episode. Look, I come in to this show and I have to speak negatively because the team isn't performing well, right? And so I want to be really clear, and I think I said this earlier in the show, but just to make sure that I say it again, that your belief in this team is not wrong. Your love for this team and this being your favorite team and all these other things, it is not a bad thing. And I'm never going to make anybody feel bad about being a fan. You should believe that this team can get better and you should simultaneously be incredibly disappointed and frustrated with what you have seen thus far. I mentioned that this team, I projected to be two and three at this point. They're one and four. It's a difference of a single game thus far. However, the repeated issues, the lack of direction, the lack of identity, the lack of urgency, all of these things, the lack of preparedness, all of these things are not things that we predicted or projected. Those are the frustrating pieces to all of this. If this team was going out there and getting into dog fights or fire fights, and they were losing by small margins in big scoring outputs, or both teams low scoring outputs because the defenses are playing so incredibly well and things like that, that would be one thing. But in this season so far for New Orleans, this team has not proven to be that. This team instead has proven to be more of one that is just outmatched by its opponent. One point loss to start the season, but then after that, an eight point loss up against the Raiders, a 19 point loss up against the Atlanta Falcons, and now a 10 point loss up against the Minnesota Vikings. These are not losses by single possession margins, while I guess the eight point one could potentially be, but at best you're tying in that situation. But these are not like single one field goal, three point difference, differentials, one point differentials, all these other things. These are examples of a team at home in front of what was and is still capable of being the best home field advantage in the NFL. These are examples of a team squandering that opportunity. So until this team starts to produce the results that are expected, you're right in your frustration and you're right in your hope that this team turns things around as well. Like I mentioned, I still have questions, I'm still not convinced on certain things. It doesn't mean that my questions won't get answered and it doesn't mean that the things that I'm not convinced about, I will eventually become convinced about. I'm just willing to say that I'm not convinced by things yet. Doesn't mean that that won't change in the near future. And so you're right to continue to root, you're right to be disappointed, you're right to have your question marks, and you're not doing anything wrong by being a fan of this team. I want to be very, very clear about that because I got to come on this show and I got to tell you the truth. I'm not going to sit here and lie to you and say, oh, but this silver lining and this silver lining and these little things and everything like that, like this isn't good. Things are not going well. I think the Saints are probably in a panic. I think that this is very different than what they expected themselves. Good, should be. There should be a charge, there should be a sense of urgency. There should be a level of, there should be a feeling of failure inside of that building, right? Just, there should be. And that doesn't mean that with, what, 12 games to go, that that feeling of failure can't be turned into at least some motivating factor to try to prove you right. So I want to be very, very clear about that. When I come on here and I talk negative about this team, I ain't talking negative about you because you are the standard bear. You as the fan are the one who decides whether or not this team is worth your time. You are on the side of this that says, I'm supporting or I'm not supporting. Very simple. And if you choose or as you choose to continue to support, I want to be very clear, you're not making the wrong decision. It's just about whether or not they are making you right. Eventually, that will happen. How soon? We'll see. All right. Coming up in tomorrow's episode, a deeper dive into the numbers, what you need to know about this really disappointing start for New Orleans so far. We appreciate you very much, as always, making us a part of your routine for saying yes to me in the show. If you see me, please say hi. And if you need anything else around your New Orleans Saints in between these episodes, make sure you follow me on your favorite social media at Ross Jackson. N-O-L-A. Hit me up. Let me know what the family is doing, how you're living. Let me know how you're moming them. And for us to Dat Nation, I'll holla at you.