The New Orleans Saints had a bad performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Was it because of Kellen Moore or the roster? The loss marked their third straight defeat, exposing recurring issues in execution and discipline on both sides of the ball. While Moore’s play designs created opportunities, the lack of consistency from key players turned potential big moments into missed chances.
New Orleans Saints’ Inefficient Execution on Pass Plays
For most of the game, the Saints relied on their passing attack to move the ball down the field. Moore is a highly talented offensive playcaller, so this should be a strength of his coaching, and he made great calls against the Buccaneers. Screens were well timed, plays allowed Saints pass catchers to get open, and WR Devaughn Vele finally saw an increase in snaps. This area of the game was not on Moore.
Clearly, QB Spencer Rattler struggled against the Buccaneers, and turnovers are still an issue. Drives stalled twice due to a Rattler turning the ball over, and when that didn’t happen, either a wide-open receiver was missed, a blitz wasn’t picked up/the offensive line allowed fast pressure, Rattler ran out of the pocket early, or the pass catchers made a mistake.
The plays were there to be made, but the players could not make them.
Lack of Rushing Attempts
With the struggles at QB in this game, the offense usually would then rely on the rushing attack. Instead, Moore fell into the trap he had dealt with earlier this season and continued to stay away from the run. RB Alvin Kamara only ran six times, and rookie Devin Neal was not given the ball on a rushing attempt.
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Understandably, Moore is hesitant due to the previous struggles this season, but if the pass game is not consistent, pressure must be taken off of the QB, which is done by rushing the ball. Neal, who is skilled in running up the middle and gaining hard-earned yards, was not given the ball, which is unacceptable.
No Head-Scratching Mistakes by Kellen Moore
So far this season, Moore has been subject to scrutiny for some of his decisions during games, like kicking on 4th-and-short at the wrong time, failing to use timeouts when needed, or making the wrong play calls. These are all rookie head coach mistakes that Moore will learn from, and against the Bucs, there were no glaring inexperience mistakes.
