What Kellen Moore, Saints Players Said After Embarrassing Loss to Falcons

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The New Orleans Saints gave the city little reason to celebrate after their crushing 45-24 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday evening.

On a night commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Domecoming, Atlanta spoiled the occasion by jumping on New Orleans early and never relinquishing control. The Falcons rushed for 205 yards, produced several explosive plays and sent the Saints to 1-3.

Afterward, head coach Kellen Moore and several Saints players addressed the slow start, defensive breakdowns, turnovers and the disappointment of falling flat on such a meaningful night.

Saints HC Kellen Moore

On his opening thoughts after the loss:

“Really disappointing game for us. Obviously, I thought the Dome was an incredible night, incredible energy. We obviously did a poor job just preparing our football team. We really, in all three phases, did not do enough to win this game. Atlanta came in and played a lot better than us.

“I didn't coach well enough, play well enough, so obviously, it wasn't good enough. We're at where we're at. We're a 1-3 football team with some good moments, but not enough consistent football to be where we ultimately want to be. We have a lot of work to do. There's a path for us, but it's going to take a lot of work to get there. We've got to keep going.”

On the Saints' continued slow starts:

“It is just disappointing. Obviously, not coaching it well enough, not executing well enough. They came out, went right down the field and scored. We went three-and-out and didn't score until the second quarter.”

On whether the Saints have tried changing things to start faster:

“We have tried a number of different things. Obviously, we have to solve this. We have to find a way.”

On the team's preparation:

“I just think, at the end of the day, they executed better than us. They played faster than us. They, obviously, ran the ball really well, created some explosive plays in the pass game. On our side of it, we weren't able to run the ball well enough. We turned the ball over, and that's a challenging formula.”

On the struggles running the football:

“We weren't able to run well, and we weren't able to put ourselves in position to have the opportunities to continue to run it and find that ability to finally get it going. When you fall behind, you play in some different circumstances. Obviously, you are going to have to adjust the plan.”

On the significance of the Domecoming game:

“We talked about it at the beginning of the week. The guys were fired up. I thought there was good energy. We just didn't execute well enough in the beginning, and they got going.”

Saints QB Tyler Shough

On whether preparation was an issue:

“I don't think there's a lack of preparation. I think there's a lack of execution on some of it. We were prepared. I think the turnover early killed us, and we've got to be able to put some of those early drives together and score more points early on to get it going.

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“As an offense, we knew exactly what went wrong and what went right. We just have to clean up those little things and take responsibility for that. I have to be able to put us in the right position to go out and do that. There's a lot to learn from. It obviously sucks, but we're going to keep going.”

On his left hand getting hit in the first quarter:

“Yeah, I took a helmet or something to it. I think it was just bruised up, so it should be good. I was able to play the rest of the game.”

On whether the injury affected his grip or throwing:

“No. It was just part of it. It didn't affect my right hand, obviously, so it was just something to deal with.”

On the disappointment considering the significance of the game:

“It is extremely disappointing. It is embarrassing. You can't say enough good things about the fans showing up and the entire process, what this game meant, and we fell short as a team to not get that win. That was our mission. That was my message, and we did not win.

“It was a team loss. We've got to do better on all fronts. As an offense, we have to start faster when we are going against another really good offense and be able to do our part. We've got to do a lot better there, and it starts with myself.”

On the mood in the locker room:

“Disappointed. More than anything, you lose to the Falcons like that, especially on a Monday night game, and it sucks. You can't say, ‘Oh, man that doesn't suck.’ It definitely does.

“But I do know as a team that we're extremely close and that we're going to keep going and keep our eyes forward. We have really good leadership, and our leadership admits that we've got to get better. We have to get better, watch the film and evaluate that. There's no hiding that.

“But at the same time, it is a long season, and there are a lot of games yet to be played where we can do that. There's nothing set in stone. We know that, and that's the best part about this business is that we're going to keep climbing.”

Saints EDGE Cameron Jordan

On the disappointment of the loss:

“I hate that we had a slow start. We got punched in the mouth early and look at the response. It's one of those games where we weren't good on offense, defense or special teams. You look at the second half and are ready to fight back.

“When you play a division rival it's like playing two games. When you have the Falcons coming into our building, you have to be ready. They had an early score with Bijan [Robinson]. At that point with 60 yards on the ground, we have to figure something out.

“They had almost 200 yards rushing (205). That's on the defensive line. When you have a ground game like that, then you have to tell the defensive line to tighten up. Our secondary had to come down and try to focus on the run and then that's when they have their way. They had their way tonight. It's embarrassing.”

On why the Saints couldn't stop Atlanta's rushing attack:

“Without sounding redundant. A 60-yard (59) touchdown. We didn't shut down our run defense. Our run defense did not show up to play early on. A 60-yard touchdown.

“From there, they see that their zone schemes are working, so they relied on that. For whatever reason, we couldn't tighten up our gaps. Our gap integrity has to be at a premium, especially when you have a top-tier back like Bijan or any running back the way that we were playing. It just wasn't good enough.”

Saints TE Juwan Johnson

On what the Saints should expect moving forward:

“Football is not always what you expect it to be. It is a good thing that we have 17 weeks. We have to stay encouraged. We have to have the mindset that this is not a defining moment.

“We can't take a step back because the rear view mirror is smaller than the front mirror. So, let's just keep it there.”

On whether someone needs to speak up after the loss:

“Nobody has to speak for it. Nobody says we have to step it up. Everyone knows that. Go make plays. Make this happen. We start with turnovers. We start with shooting ourselves in the foot. It's all obvious.

“We know that and we all have to be intentional about it. We play smarter ball and the results are different. These are all things that we can control. The outcome will be the outcome. We just have to control what we control and let the results speak for themselves.”

Saints CB Quincy Riley

On whether Atlanta's play-action game surprised the Saints:

“We weren't surprised. We feel like we knew what they were going to do, but we just have to be better. Keep your eyes open and be ready to defend anything that you are going to get.”

On what hurt the Saints defensively:

“No, we just feel like we didn't play our best game and they played one of their best games. Congrats to them.”

On whether Atlanta's running game opened everything else up:

“I mean, we know that they are going to get some runs off. We just have to be better all across the board including the run game and pass game.”

Saints WR Devaughn Vele

On the offense's performance:

“There are a lot of things that we have to fix. We started out slow. We talk about starting fast and we didn't do that. We lost the ball as well. There are a lot of things here and there.

“There was a lot of emotions this game. Obviously, it was a tough loss for all of us. We have to build off it. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad. We just have to keep working.”

On the emotions surrounding the Domecoming game:

“It is frustrating. We owe it to the fans with the Domecoming and everything. There was a lot of meaning with this game and I feel like we let them down.

“We just need to go back to the drawing board and correct our mistakes. I still have a lot of faith in this team. We are going to make sure that we do the right things. We are going to build off it.”

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