Oct 12, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore on the field during the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Kellen Moore places pressure on one of his key assistants after Saints' narrow loss that pushes them farther down NFC standings

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Adam Holt | Last updated Oct 13, 2025 8:29 AM ET

The New Orleans Saints just came up short of an upset against the New England Patriots in Week 6. Kellen Moore's offense played fairly well, albeit struggling some in the red zone once again. For the defense, the inexperienced group showed some flaws in the first half that forced the offense to play a bit more through the air than they probably would've preferred.

Head coach Kellen Moore was honest about the defensive issues that glared early on in the loss after the game, too.

Kellen Moore expects better starts from defense

After the loss to New England, where the Saints struggled mightily in the first half on defense, Moore was honest about his expectations from the defensive unit. He knows they need to get off to better starts in order to avoid the offense being behind the eight ball. Against the Patriots, lapses in the secondary and the pass rush not getting home were both issues early on.

"We're not starting fast enough from a defensive perspective." -- Kellen Moore on slow starts recently

Kellen Moore: "We're not starting fast enough from a defensive perspective."

Said it's been a couple of weeks in a row that they're playing from behind and that's not the formula they want.
— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) October 12, 2025

Against Drake Maye's Patriots, the Saints allowed the young QB to record a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the first half of play. Somehow, New Orleans was down just six points at the break. While the pressure got around Maye at times in the game, the Saints could just never seem to actually bring him down before the ball got out.

Drake Maye was under pressure on all three touchdown passes in the first half today against the Saints. All three were deep passes (20+ air yards) thrown to the left side of the field.

Maye vs. Pressure (1H): 7/8, 144 yards, 3 TD#NEvsNO | #NEPats pic.twitter.com/Ir5tJPlZxS
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 12, 2025

This strong comment from Moore has placed some pressure on defensive coordinator Brandon Staley to have his unit even more prepared for the start of games.

Additionally, the Saints may need to make adjustments early on in games, compared to what their recent performances have proven. Against New England, the Saints back end struggled badly against play action passes. Their communication, particularly between young players, simply was not good enough.

Let's see if the tough love from Moore after the defeat pushes the Saints defense to come out and make a big play early on next weekend against the Bears.

As of now, New Orleans sits in last place of the NFC South at 1-5 on the season. It will be extremely tough to dig their way out of that in any capacity, but in order to garner any wins, they can't continue to place themselves in a ditch early in matchups.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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