Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
CHICAGO – In their sixth loss of the season, the New Orleans Saints again fell victim to the same issues that have plagued them all year. It was another slow start on offense, an inability to get going on first and second downs, only converting three of 10 third downs and a sense of either under- or unpreparedness.
Saints head coach Kellen Moore again pointed to the team’s missed opportunities and inefficiencies in the postgame press conference, repeating the same hardships and obstacles the team has pinpointed in previous weeks. Addressing those continued struggles will be imperative for the team to keep its spirits high as the remainder of the season rolls along.
New Orleans currently has the worst first quarter point margin in the league at minus-52.
No one is expecting this team to turn things around in its current state, which may have become worse with key injuries to Erik McCoy and Kendre Miller. But, if Moore and his staff want to get the most of out of this roster that remains bought in, some things will change. Whether that change comes at quarterback, with an attempt to get a jolt from a rookie starter in Tyler Shough or tweaks are made to the early game gameplan, something will need to be done. Otherwise, the Saints could start losing their cache with the roster fast.
For now, the roster remains committed to the process, one that many players see as worth weathering and temporary.
“It’s a testament to the locker room,” defensive end Cam Jordan said after the loss. “The core values that we have, the men that are in this locker room. And you see the success when everything goes how we’re supposed to, when we’re executing at a high level. When we’re not stepping on our own feet. When everybody’s on their spot. That’s a great game for us. Sad to say we’ve only had one great game. You see where we could be.”
The Saints had started to pick up momentum with a pair of scoring drives that were capped off by 21 and 14-yard touchdown completions between quarterback Spencer Rattler and wide receiver Chris Olave. The day was Olave’s first multi-touchdown game of his career. New Orleans wasn’t able to keep up that momentum. The team tallied just 253 net offensive yards with 171 coming on those two drives. That alone is a prime example of what Jordan highlighted.
Rattler to Olave gets us on the board
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/CT0Inyk719
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) October 19, 2025
When things are good, progress and production are clear. When things are not good, the result is an ugly swing in the exact opposite direction. Before the Saints’ first scoring drive, the team was averaging just 0.2 yard per play on offense. However, the offense found a way to bounce back, albeit briefly.
Olave also spoke about the buy-in from the team, highlighting his unique perspective coming off of a season-ending injury in 2024.
“I had a season-ending injury last year,” he said. “So [that] kind of changed my perspective on things, and even through the bad games, the good games; I’m just thankful to go out there and grateful to be able to have the opportunity.”
The wideout called the job of him and his teammates an uncommon one, which he does not take for granted. With all of the trade rumors swirling around the fourth-year receiver, it likely wouldn’t be a challenge to tune out and start pushing for another opportunity elsewhere. Instead, he said that he and the Saints have been in active contract conversations since the offseason.
Chris Olave on the report by the Athletic on a potential extension: “We’ve been having conversations since like the beginning of the year.”
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) October 19, 2025
The Saints can’t waste the level of commitment the team is getting from the players by constantly opening games looking unprepared and outmatched by their opponents. The team is in a rebuild, but the club has the talent to at least look much more consistently competitive than it often has this season. The perceived lack of preparedness has been a common thread all year, something Moore appears to have the remedy to handle.
“We’ve just got to execute at a higher level,” Moore said in his postgame presser. “I’ve got to find stuff that guys can execute faster, more decisive early in games and we’ve got to find a way just because it’s happened on a couple occasions. It’s been pass game and run game.”
For the first time in five weeks, the Saints’ defense did not surrender 14 points in the first two drives. However, the team still found itself in a 20-0 hole at one point. The defense also surrendered 222 rushing yards on the day. But even with that, Saints’ defenders still feel like the time will come that all will fall into place.
“It’s just because we’re right there,” linebacker Isaiah Stalbird said. “We can see those plays that need to be made, we just need to start making them. … We’re not playing bad ball, it’s just plays here and there. But as a whole, we can see it. When you put on the silent tape, it’s there. It’s just, within the system, you’ve got to make those minor tweaks. Or when it’s time for whoever to make the big play, we go out there and make the big play. That time is coming.”
The Saints had better hope so and they’ll hope it does while the roster is still in it and ready to continue competing for this club. Otherwise, with 10 games left and a 1-6 record, what’s left could become increasingly arduous. Such an outcome could make it very difficult to sell the vision down the road.
