The Saints' 2025 season was far from perfect, but there were some positive takeaways to have going into the offseason. Still, HC Kellen Moore made some mistakes that cannot happen next season.
The 2025 season for the New Orleans Saints marks their first year in a new era. Rookie QB Tyler Shough took over as the starter, the entire coaching staff (except a few coaches) was new, and the team was looking to a younger roster. This was a rebuild, and although the Saints felt like they could still compete in a bad NFC South, they still ended last.
In the long run, this was not a horrible outcome, and the Saints had many young players play well. In addition, the coaching was much better than expected, especially from DC Brandon Staley. Still, the one issue was that HC Kellen Moore did not have an excellent season. Although it ended much better, Moore struggled in many areas throughout much of the season. There were clear reasons for this, such as Moore learning as a new HC and not having the right QB to run his offense, but he cannot have those issues going into next season.
Areas HC Kellen Moore Must Improve
Throughout the season, even with the improvements, Moore struggled with situational football. At times, the Saints lacked a smart plan to end halves; decisions not to go for it made no sense; time-outs were not being utilized when the Saints had great opportunities; some of the challenges were horrible. The good news is that with a full offseason, all of these issues should be fixed, but if Moore can't do that, the Saints will lose games they are supposed to win.
Another issue that Moore must address is making changes when it's needed. For most of last season, Moore waited way too long to make certain changes that clearly needed to be made and would have put the Saints in better situations to win. An example of this was the kicking issue.
Blake Grupe stayed in at kicker for most of the season, and his missed kicks were a driving reason why the Saints were losing games. If the change of releasing him had been made two weeks earlier, there would have been a better chance of New Orleans getting some more victories. These games could have been the reason the Saints made the playoffs, but instead, they finished last.
The last major issue Moore needs to address is the red zone. Yes, Shough improved this weakness a bit, but it was still nowhere near good enough. This can be done simply by getting better players, but Moore's play-calling was questionable in this area.