A big ask at this point.
One of the top issues that the New Orleans Saints have dealt with this season- and really since Kellen Moore was hired- is that this team has been unable to start fast. In some games, that's because of mistakes/turnovers, like what we saw against the Detroit Lions, but other times, it's because of play calling and personnel.
For the most part, since Shough became the starting QB, the mistakes have dropped significantly. The Lions game was an outlier, but over Shough's time as QB, the blame for these slow starts can fall on injuries, as in 2025, or on coaching.
Confusingly, the Saints' offensive line is really struggling, and it's worse because Kelvin Banks Jr. is down with an injury. On paper, including Banks Jr., the Saints' offensive line should be incredible, especially in the run game. After signing David Edwards this offseason, it completed this group, and although there were some weaknesses, it had potential to be top tier. Instead, the run blocking has been bad, and it's worse because Moore tries to run the ball as if the offensive line is doing well.
For some reason, the run game has been boiled down to running it inside, trying to get through multiple defenders, and gaining yards. This is not really the strenght Alvin Kamara and Travis Etienne, so when those are your two main RBs, it's confusing. I'm focusing on the run game so much because that's why the Saints aren't starting fast in games.
Without a consistent running game, the Saints can't use play-action to the best of their ability, defenses can play the pass way more than the run (because they know they can stop the run without as much effort), and actually trying to run the ball just makes it 3rd & 5 or 3rd & 8 that the Saints need to convert in the air.
This isn't a great spot for the Saints, but can New Orleans fix it for their Week 3 game against the Las Vegas Raiders? Honestly, there's a chance, but it's extremely low. I won't count this team out of surprising everyone out of nowhere, but history shows the Saints start slow, and with how inconsistent the run game has been, it's nearly impossible to start fast unless one thing happens.
When the Saints just allow Shough to throw the ball and control the game, they do better. Maybe the key to starting fast is doing that right away and using the run as a secondary to catch the defense by surprise.
