Kellen Moore and Saints Have a Serious Problem After Falcons Humiliation

Saints On SI Analysis

Before the season, the New Orleans Saints had high expectations after a strong finish to the 2025 season and with one of the best young quarterbacks in the league, Tyler Shough.

However, the second season of the Kellen Moore era has not gotten off to the start the organization wanted. After a 1-1 start featuring an upset win over the Baltimore Ravens in Week 2, the Saints have lost their last two games—falling in a fourth-quarter collapse to the Las Vegas Raiders and getting blown out by the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football.

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The loss to Atlanta has seemingly broken the dam. It was an embarrassing 45-24 loss on a night commemorating the 20th anniversary of Domecoming. TV networks, the city, the franchise and the league designated the game as a celebration of the night that rebirthed New Orleans.

Then, the Saints laid an egg in front of 73,000 fans, with former players such as Drew Brees and Steve Gleason and members of the 2006 team watching by a national audience.

What is going on with the Saints?

Slow Starts Continue to Plague Saints

Slow starts remain a defining flaw of the Moore era for the Saints.

In 2025, New Orleans was outscored 122-29 in the first quarter. This minus-93 differential routinely forced the team to play from behind, despite second-half improvements after Shough took over at quarterback.

The issue persists in 2026. A Week 3 touchdown pass from Shough to Juwan Johnson against Las Vegas provided the Saints with a 6-3 first-quarter lead—their first under Moore and their first since Dec. 8, 2024, ending a 23-game drought.

However, the momentum proved brief. Against Atlanta on Monday night, New Orleans fell behind 24-7 at halftime following an early Falcons touchdown, a quick three-and-out, and a lone second-quarter score, ultimately losing 45-24.

Moore noted postgame that the team has tried various approaches to resolve the issue but has not yet found a solution.

"We have tried a number of different things," Moore said. "Obviously, we have to solve this. We have to find a way."

Dating back to 2025, the Saints continue to struggle early, leaving them constantly playing catch-up.

Secondary Has Become a Major Concern

The Saints' secondary entered the season with legitimate questions, and four games have done little to provide answers.

New Orleans has talent on the back end, but the unit has struggled to prevent explosive plays and has compounded those mistakes with penalties, missed tackles and breakdowns at critical moments. Those issues were on full display against Atlanta, when Michael Penix Jr. needed only 20 attempts to throw for 223 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 11.2 yards per attempt and completed 75% of his passes despite Atlanta leaning heavily on its running game.

Cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Quincy Riley had particularly difficult nights. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF) data, Riley allowed four receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown as the nearest defender, while McKinstry allowed two catches for 60 yards and committed two penalties. They finished with overall PFF grades of 28.0 and 29.5, respectively.

The problems extend well beyond one game.

Through four games, McKinstry has been targeted 22 times, allowing 13 receptions for 209 yards and one touchdown. He has surrendered four first downs while forcing four incompletions.

Riley has faced 21 targets, allowing 11 receptions for 142 yards and three touchdowns. He has allowed three first downs and forced three incompletions. The three touchdowns allowed are particularly concerning considering Riley has been targeted only 21 times.

The Saints haven't received much better production from their safeties.

Jonas Sanker has been targeted 19 times and allowed 17 receptions for 161 yards and a touchdown. He has yet to force an incompletion or allow a first down, according to PFF's charting.

Veteran Justin Reid has also struggled to consistently hold up in coverage. Opposing quarterbacks have completed 13 of 15 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown when targeting him. Like Sanker, Reid has not recorded a forced incompletion or allowed a first down through four games.

Combined, McKinstry, Riley, Sanker, Reid and Julian Blackmon have surrendered 57 receptions on 79 targets for 657 yards with seven touchdowns and only one interception. That is a 70.1% completion rate, with the five defensive backs combining for only seven forced incompletions.

Saints Simply Can't Stop the Run

If there is one defensive problem that should concern the Saints even more than their secondary, it's their inability to stop the run.

The warning signs were already there before Monday night. New Orleans entered Week 4 allowing 128.7 rushing yards per game, 27th in the NFL. Atlanta then turned that weakness into a full-blown disaster.

The Falcons rushed for 205 yards and five touchdowns on 35 carries, averaging 5.9 yards per attempt. Bijan Robinson accounted for 145 yards and two touchdowns, while Brian Robinson Jr. added 62 yards and three scores.

Worse, the Saints were overwhelmed immediately.

Bijan Robinson ripped off a 59-yard touchdown on Atlanta's third offensive play, setting the tone for an evening in which New Orleans never found an answer. The Falcons didn't need deception or a complicated offensive formula. They repeatedly attacked a defensive front that couldn't maintain its gaps or consistently finish tackles.

And this wasn't an isolated performance. New Orleans has now allowed 165, 108, 113 and 205 rushing yards through its first four games. That's 591 yards overall, an average of nearly 147.8 yards per game, which is 30th out of 32 teams in the NFL. The only two teams that have a worse rushing defense than the Saints are the Dallas Cowboys and NFC South rival Carolina Panthers.

Kellen Moore May Have Lost the Fanbase

There is a difference between losing games and losing the fanbase. Moore may be dangerously close to the latter.

Monday night's 45-24 loss to the Falcons felt like more than another defeat for a Saints team that has fallen to 1-3. New Orleans was embarrassed at home by its biggest rival on a night meant to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Domecoming, and the frustration inside the Caesars Superdome was impossible to ignore.

Fans can tolerate a rebuilding team. They can understand injuries, growing pains and a young roster making mistakes. Who Dat Nation can tolerate a close loss where the Saints fight until the final whistle, especially given the key injuries the team faced entering the game.

What becomes much harder to accept is a team consistently looking unprepared, undisciplined or incapable of matching its opponent's intensity.

That's where Moore's problem begins.

Moore was hired to give the Saints a new direction after years of stagnation. Instead, the results are beginning to look painfully familiar.

Four games should not determine a coach's future, particularly one overseeing a roster with obvious deficiencies. But patience around Moore could disappear quickly if performances like Monday's continue, especially since everyone, from the city of New Orleans to the NFL and television networks, designated that night for New Orleans to celebrate one of the city's and franchise's greatest moments.

This loss is something that they will not forget, and given their reactions across social media, it has not been pretty.

Saints fans aren't simply asking for wins right now. They're looking for evidence that the franchise is actually headed somewhere.

Against Atlanta, they didn't get much of it.

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