Gayle Benson spent years campaigning to get her team into the NFL's first game in France, and she warned them not to embarrass her on an international stage. After her New Orleans Saints failed to deliver in a 13-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers that felt much bigger, she must enforce consequences. The bye week has arrived at a perfect time for changes in team leadership.
Whether or not Benson has the appetite for firing general manager Mickey Loomis or head coach Kellen Moore remains to be seen. She criticized them individually while taking her own responsibility for the team's underperformance when the Saints were 1-4. Now they're 2-5. If she isn't willing to dismiss the guys at the top of the organization, and the latest reports suggest
she isn't, there still must be other changes.
Start with the running game. The Saints have too many cooks in the kitchen for a unit producing the NFL's lowest single-game output since early 2022. New Orleans couldn't run for even 10 yards against a middle-of-the-road Pittsburgh Steelers run defense. Look at everyone involved with that operation on the coaching staff: Moore, the play caller; offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier; running backs coach/associate head coach Joel Thomas; run game coordinator T.J. Paganetti, who followed Moore from the Philadelphia Eagles; offensive line coach Brendan Nugent plus his assistants Will Clapp and Tobijah Hughley; and senior assistant Scott Linehan. Shuffle the group or at least cut down on the number of voices in the room. Zone or gap blocking, inside or out -- there isn't a single concept the Saints have consistently ran well. They need to find something that works and lean on it.
It doesn't feel like an accident that the laziest hires Moore made when building this staff have been the areas of biggest concern. He and Nugent worked together for a year on the Los Angeles Chargers, but most of Nugent's credibility came from his previous stint coaching the New Orleans offensive line. He was brought back just like Thomas and special teams coordinator Phil Galiano, who was retained from the previous staff. This inability to run the football (or protect banged-up quarterback Tyler Shough) and the mistake-filled kicking units are a direct response to those personnel moves. Galiano has backed shaky veteran Daniel Carlson even as he's missed at least one kick in six of his seven games. This game ended with a special teams alignment penalty on Pittsburgh's successful field goal, setting up the Steelers to kneel out the clock and prevent New Orleans from even attempting a comeback.
Moore continues to fail to deliver. Benson threw down the gauntlet. Now it's her responsibility to see that challenge through and demand changes. If that means dismissing Moore now and forcing Loomis to go out to pasture after the season, so be it. If it means releasing some well-liked assistants who aren't getting the job done? Well, it would be a start. This Saints team can't come out of the bye week with the same structure intact.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Gayle Benson must take action after Saints failed to heed her warning
