Credit where it's due -- Kellen Moore isn't hiding after from criticism after he failed to prepare his team for Monday night's matchup with their oldest rivals. With the whole football world tuning in on the twentieth anniversary of the Superdome reopening after Hurricane Katrina, Moore watched his New Orleans Saints offense, defense, and special teams get outworked by the Atlanta Falcons in all phases. Afterwards, he took ownership of the loss.
"Really disappointing," Moore said in his opening statement during his postgame press conference. "We did a really poor job 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. Didn't coach well enough, didn't play well enough, obviously
it wasn't good enough. We're at where we're at, a 1-3 football team with some good moments, (but) not enough."
Moore and his staff didn't use the benefit of an extra day to prepare their team for what was ahead of them. NewOrleans.Football's Nick Underhill repeatedly asked about the struggle to get his guys ready, leading to a series of slow starts, but Moore didn't have a real response beyond summarizing the night's experience.
"Yeah, it's just disappointing. Obviously, again, just not coaching well enough, not executing well enough. They came out, scored, we went three and out, you know, we didn't score until the second quarter," Moore said. When pressed on what he and his staff could do fix it or change their routine, Moore replied, "We tried a number of different things and, you know, obviously haven't solved this. We've got to find a way."
He knows what the problem is. What's concerning is his inability to solve it. When veteran defensive linemen like Nathan Shepherd and Davon Godchaux are being given a veteran's rest day each week before allowing 200-plus rushing yards, that's an obvious area of concern. When veterans who have started five consecutive seasons like tight end Juwan Johnson are fouled for an illegal shift, that's a problem to address. When the offense can't line up to run a play in twenty seconds before the first two-minute warning, you've got a fundamental flaw in how you're running practice. When the protection plan leaves a backup left tackle all alone on an island and the quarterback is pressured on 47% of his pass attempts, you and your assistant coaches owe an explanation. When a team captain like Justin Reid is beefing with fans on Twitter and talking about he made plays individually in a 45-24 loss, you've got a leadership problem.
Moore has made positive culture development a key pillar in building his team. And there's a lot to be said for encouraging that camaraderie. But getting too comfortable can be dangerous. When you're off to a 1-3 start in Year 2 after clawing your way to six wins in Year 1, you may need to make some guys uncomfortable. The current approach isn't just unsustainable. It's unproductive. If changes don't come soon, it's going to get worse.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Kellen Moore owns primetime loss: 'We did a really poor job preparing'
