EXPOSED: New Orleans Saints’, Kellen Moore’s Vibes NOT ENOUGH As Offense Stalls Again In Red Zone

EXPOSED: New Orleans Saints’, Kellen Moore’s Vibes NOT ENOUGH As Offense Stalls Again In Red Zone

The New Orleans Saints will not be able to achieve meaningful progress relying on vibes and optimism alone. You are Locked On Saints, your daily New Orleans Saints podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What is good, Hudet Nation and Hudet family? I am your host, your friend Ross Jackson, New Orleans native, your New Orleans Saints expert and credentialed member of the media covering those New Orleans Saints as the Saints beat writer over at louisianaapasports.net. And on today’s episode of Locked on Saints, it’s time to see what Charlie Smith could bring to this team when it comes to kicker. We’ll take a look at the red zone woes for the New Orleans Saints and why the continuation of those issues is so concerning when it comes to head coach Kell Moore. And we’ll kick everything off with a simple truth, which is that the New Orleans Saints are not going to be able to build a foundation for their future on vibes and optimism alone. We got all that and a little bit of land yap for you on today’s episode. We appreciate you very much whether it’s your first time or your next time being here with us this time, making us your first listen and being every day or here on the show, which is a proud part of Lockdown Podcast Network, the number one sports podcast network. Thanks to you. Thanks for helping us get there as we bring you your team every day. Hey, today’s are brought to you by our friends over at Prize Pix. Download the Prize Pix app today and use the promo code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups when you create your first $5 lineup. The New Orleans Saints need to show some signs of life on the offensive side of the football and they need to do it quickly because they’re not going to be able to rely on positivity, optimism, and vibes the rest of the way through. Now, to be clear, there’s not a lot of turning around that the New Orleans Saints can do throughout this season. They’re a two-9 football team right now with six games left. They hold the number three overall selection currently in the NFL draft for 2026. And they have no clear answer just yet at quarterback, but they’re hoping to get that figured out with some promising stuff from Tyler Shuck, New Orleans Saints rookie, who they drafted in the second round here in 2025. But in their 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, despite getting a really, really good set of contributions from the defensive side of the football and an enormously supportive home crowd, despite the fact that they were a 2-8 team coming into this game, 2-9 coming out, the offense again couldn’t get it done. And yet again, at the podium in the press conferences after the games, we heard the same thing that we’ve heard all season. self-inflicted wounds, have to find ways to get better. Um, things that I got to do better. Uh, the team committing to the process that has so far only resulted in disappointment throughout the season and a continuation of the same sort of flowery language that we hear every single week. And it’s beginning to fall on deaf ears. Fans are not buying it. And even the team is getting to the point to where you’re hearing conversations around like, hey, we’re not looking towards next year. Still trying to compete here this year. And so there’s some crosswires in some places here that are becoming very, very interesting. And some of the cracks in the foundation are becoming exposed right in front of your very eyes. And for New Orleans, who is very fortunate to have the buyin from the players that it has right now, this is the time to start to show that there is a foundation worth building upon. Maybe not necessarily specific to the personnel, but certainly specific to what the vision of this team is moving forward. To this day, I cannot tell you 11 games into the season what the New Orleans Saints identity is on offense or what it is that they intend for their identity to be on offense. We have heard things, but we hear some things that are just qualities. Hard fighting, you know, uh competitive, uh all these other things. That’s all fine, but what is your identity? What’s your bread and butter? What is the thing that you rely upon to get your offense going and to put points on the board? And here’s the thing, that’s not something that the New Orleans Saints do. They don’t put points on the board. This team has still not scored more than 26 points, has only eclipsed 20 points twice this season, and has only reached 26 points one time this season. This is a team whose offense stalls when it gets into opposing territory. This is a team that does not seem to be ready to play games on the offensive side of the football when the game begins. This is an underprepared, not well coached football team. And it’s also a team that lacks talent. It was a team that had deficiencies across its roster coming into this season. And then those deficiencies only got accentuated by trading away Rasheed Jahed. injuries, especially over on the offensive line. We watched the offensive line play another abysmal game this weekend up against the Atlanta Falcons. And of course, just recently had to move on from wide receiver Brandon Cooks at his request. A mutual agreement in terms of the the the departure there and one that made sense, but still something that contributes to a loss of talent on a team that was lacking for talent. The New Orleans Saints had two back-to- back 15 play drives in the third quarter coming out of halftime and got three points out of those 30 plays. Got all the way down on one of those drives to the oneyd line and turn the ball over on downs. What are people supposed to look at when it comes to this New Orleans Saints offense right now and say that’s the identity? That’s the backbone. That’s the DNA. That’s what’s being built. That’s the vision. That’s what’s there to be excited about. Oh, and by the way, one of the few remaining very talented or topt talented players on the New Orleans Saints offense had to leave the game in Alvin Chimera, who’s now dealing with a knee injury coming into the game dealing with an ankle injury. Vibes, optimism, and positivity were fun at the beginning of the season. Yeah. Know the uh like the locker room still together, the glue guys, all this other stuff. It’s still there. The vibes are high. The vibes are high. All of that was true to begin the season and honestly all of it still true as of the week heading into this game. We’ll see what happens the week after this game, but all of it was true. Vibes absolutely high. But how high are you expecting to keep the locker room vibes, optimism, and positivity if every single week those players are subjected to the same level of lack of preparedness week in and week out? It’s coaching. And right now there’s not a lot of optimism and there’s not a lot of promise coming from the coaching staff on the offensive side of the football. I thought Brandon Sely did a great job with the defense going into this game. Yes, there were some things that were given up late, but that’s what happens when your defense is on the field a bunch and then it’s not that they’re tired. It’s not that they’re it’s not a stamina thing. It’s just that eventually something’s going to pop. Something’s going to happen to where the offense on the opposite side is going to diagnose something. They’re going to figure something out. They’re going to get something worked out. And then that’s when you catch a skinny post against quarters at the perfect time for Darnell Mooney to go down there and and score a touchdown. But outside of that, I thought the defense performed extremely well and kept this game winnable, but an inability to score in the red zone, an inability to put points on the board with more missed field goals, and an inability to move the football on the ground, averaging yet again less than three yards per carry limited the New Orleans Saints offense. therefore limited their ability to be effective in this game. Therefore, has continued to limit the opportunity for you to be able to pinpoint something to feel good about consistently on this New Orleans Saints offense, which has now become the model of consistency for all the wrong reasons because of the repetition behind all of the things that are going wrong for that side of the football. And you’re not going to fix any of that stuff. got to prove any of that to anybody or prove anything other than what you’re showing to anybody on vibes and optimism alone. Eventually, you have to be able to start showing progress. And the New Orleans Saints have not been able to consistently do that on the offensive side of the football. And a big reason why comes down to the decision-m, play calling, and sheer inability to do anything in the red zone, which has become a very, very concerning pattern for head coach Kell Moore. Let’s get to that next as we continue on with today’s episode of the Locked On Saints podcast. Here on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today’s episode of Locked On Saints brought to you by friends over at Prize Picks. The holiday season is here, which is a great time when it comes to the world of sports. Has everything that you’re looking for. Bowl games, big basketball matchups, playoff pushes, all happening all at once. 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The New Orleans Saints continue to struggle as the NFL’s worst team in the red zone. And it is a concerning pattern amongst a couple of concerning patterns now sort of being really under a magnifying glass when it comes to head coach Kell Moore. Kellen Moore was hired to come in to New Orleans and be an offensive mastermind, an offensive guru at head coach that was going to be able to help to get this team’s offense back off the ground and sort of reestablish the offensive presence that is known, loved, desired, all of that here in New Orleans. And instead, it’s been historically bad so far. The New Orleans Saints entered this game up against the Atlanta Falcons, 32nd in the NFL, converting just over 38% of their red zone possessions into touchdowns. They had three red zone possessions in Sunday’s game in their 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Zero touchdowns, three points. That’s it. One missed field goal, one turnover on downs, and a made field goal. And the fact that the New Orleans Saints and the Saints coaching staff and Kell Moore have still not been able to get this figured out 11 weeks in is raising a lot of questions, how good is the coaching, how good are the players, what’s going on in the red zone. I asked um Taesm Hill what he thought was going on in the red zone. One of the things that he highlighted was that the team needs to play with lower pad level. How is that an issue 11 weeks into the season? And by the way, shout out to Taesm Hill for actually trying very hard to find more answers to that question. But he said lower pad level or playing with lower pad levels is something that this that that immediately came to his mind. Now, he was also very clear that that was also him coming off of the game not having reviewed the tape and all those other things. But it is interesting to me that you talk to these players and they tell you it’s not complicated. the things that they’re struggling with. It’s not complicated. The fixes that are in front of them, everything is very achievable. But the reason why everything is very achievable is because it sounds like the issues are all very fundamental. Justin Reed after the game talking about how it’s the little things. It’s the things that you get bored working on. Center snap or sorry, center quarterback exchanges, quarterback, running back handoff exchanges, things like that. little tiny details that are basic and foundational and fundamental to the game of the NFL, but also need to be worked, practiced, refined, and routined. And so somewhere there’s a disconnect in between the things that are simple and important and the work that needs to be put into them. And whether that lack of work is coming from the way that the team is practicing or whether that lack of work is coming from the individual players just simply getting bored with the repetition of the easy things. It has to get addressed. This is what people mean when they talk about accountability, right? It’s not accountability to where every player needs to be benched. It’s not that. It’s that where’s the accountability in a practice when somebody is blowing off those details? Who is holding those players responsible? Why are the players holding the players responsible? Why is the coaching staff holding those players responsible? Why aren’t the players holding the other players responsible? Why aren’t the coaching staff isn’t the coaching staff holding those players accountable? It’s just me asking questions. I don’t know which one of those is truly the issue. But in any case, something has to be done that drives recognizable and demonstrable improvement on the football field. And so far, we’ve not seen that 11 weeks into the season. And just like we talked about how I still can’t tell you what the identity of this team is, or better yet, what the identity, particularly on the offensive side, better yet, what the identity of the offense is supposed to be outside of some qualifying words. You’re also seeing the exact same issues and the exact same struggles that we saw back in week one. It’s not just the red zone. It’s opposing territory as a whole. It’s the run game. It’s protection up front. It’s communication. It’s the same set of issues that we have seen for 11 straight games now. And it’s becoming an exercise in repetition and an exercise in insanity of doing the same things and expecting a different result. The inability to fix these things is an indictment on the coaching. And any indictment on the coaching and any thing that that that consistently pops up as a rep as a repetitious negative is going to eventually point back to Kell Moore. And so instead of standing at the podium and saying, “I need to be better.” Be better. That’s what this fan base is looking for. I think to an extent, that’s what some players are now waiting for. There’s a situation here to where the Saints need to start to show some progress. One of the big things that’s been happening in the red zone here recently, particularly ever since Tyler Shuck took over as the Saints starting quarterback, is that when they get to the red zone, Tyler Shuck comes off the field. And he doesn’t just come off the field for Taesm Hill to come in and run, which would be almost logical. The thing is is that you’re taking the ball out of Tyler Shuck’s hands and an opportunity for him to develop in a very important situational moment for his career. He needs to get reps in the red zone and get comfortable in the NFL or at the NFL speed in the most condensed version of defense that you’re going to find in the condensed version of your offense that you’re going to find which is that red zone when the field starts to shrink. And instead of that, Taesm Hills coming in and running sprint outs trying to get one over the top to Devon Vele. No, no, let Tyler Shuck be the guy to go and do that. And at this point, as Taesm Hill continues to still learn what this new offense is, because remember, he never got to work with this team on the field until week five when he came off the injury list, when he came off the physically unable to perform list, excuse me. And so utilizing Taesm Hill can be a lot of fun and it could be very creative, but it needs to be creative, not just feel obligatory. the uses of Taesm Hill sometimes just feels like Kell Moore feels like it’s what he’s supposed to do with him. But the lack of creativity, the lack of imagination around some of the things that New Orleans Saints are doing, particularly with their uh their protections up front, uh the run game, the their usage of Taesm Hill, all these other things, it it’s not yielding results, and you can’t continue to subscribe to a process that doesn’t yield results. Something’s got to change. And you would imagine that with a by-week and with the opportunity to do all the self scouting that was touted over the course or coming out of the by-week as well that the adjustments would have at least driven some level of progress. And we’re not seeing that. And again, it’s not just in the red zone. It’s getting into opposing territory, period. It’s protection up front and it’s the run game. Remember the Saints said Kell Moore said that the big focus coming out of um the self scout was the run game which they averaged less than three yards per carry in Sunday’s game and red zone where they were 0 for three in Sunday’s game. So either the self scout produced adjustments that didn’t work or more concerningly the self scout didn’t produce adjustments and in either case the result did not change. And so whatever those adjustments were, if they were there, uh, need to be severely rethought. Coming up next, it’s time to see what Charlie Smith has and can bring to this team at Kicker. We got that coming up for you as we continue on with today’s episode of Locked on Saints, part of Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today’s episode of Locked On Saints is brought to you by our friends over at Game Time. The NBA season is back. Maybe you’re traveling and you want to go ahead and grab some tickets to your favorite events. go and check out an NFL game in another city. Or maybe, of course, it’s not even just sports over on Game Time. You can check out concerts, theater, comedy, and more as well. I had some friends come into town here recently. They wanted to go to the Saints game as well. Wanted to see the big rivalry uh between the Saints and the Falcons. And so, I was able to jump on a game time, pick them up seats for around $30 a pop, got them in the door, and they got to have a good time out in the Caesar Superdome, enjoying what that game had to offer. Pull up the Game Time app. In just a couple of taps, you’ll find some amazing deals talking about your favorite NFL teams for as low as or less than $100. Download the Game Time app today. Create an account and use the promo code locked on NFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that is code L C D O N for $20 off. Swipe tap ticket go. Download Game Time today. Let’s get it. Had Nation. It’s time to see what Charlie Smith can do at kicker for the New Orleans Saints. Um, look, no disrespect at all to Blake Groupy, who’s a great guy. He’s always been very nice. He’s always been very kind. He’s always been um awesome in the locker room. He’s always spoke to us. He even spoke today in the locker room after the game on Sunday. That was a tough game for Blake Ruby. Missing his first two field goals. one from 38, one from sub 50 47 yards. And this has been the story of Blake Groupy’s season so far. He is now on the season made just over 69% of his field goals. That’s it. And so to an extent when it comes down to the type of person that you are, all those other things, all of that goes a long way in life. Um, and I’ll never discount any of these players, coaches, anybody because of that, right? because that all because that matters. But when it comes down to the game of football, you have to be able to produce on the football field. And as of right now, throughout the season, Blake Groupy has not consistently produced on the football field. And at this point, with six games left, there’s no hope for playoffs. There’s no hope for turning the season around. None of that is the conversation. The idea now is to figure out who you have on your roster that can be on your roster next year. And as of right now, there should be a lot of turnover going from this year to next year. And one of those potential positions or one of those potential units where you can see that that that turnover is special teams and seeing what you have in Charlie Smith now who’s been sitting on your practice squad for two years. Now is just as good as time good just as good a time as any because you’re not going to get worse probably than you have right now with Blake Groupy who’s making on average seven of 10 kicks. Right. That’s fair to say, right? barely just just under 70%. And so with that, go ahead and give the young guy from Ireland a try, the guy that you’ve kept around for these last couple of years and have talked about how he’s developing behind the scenes and all these other things, giving him some preseason opportunities, all that. getting him a chance to continue his development in real in-game regular season situations where your season is not riding on the result of games anymore is a good opportunity and it follows what the Saints have done so far this season. Obviously, there are rookies that have stepped into starting roles for different reasons. Tyler Shuck stepped into his starting role as we all knew that he would late in the season. and Quincy Riley stepped into his starting role while Isaac Adam was dealing with injury and now has not relinquished that spot. Danny Stzman continues to get rotated in at the second level over on the defensive side. Kelvin Banks Jr. is your starting left tackle. You have several young players all across your roster that you’re trying to get evaluations on. even rotating Isaiah Stalbert in who has had an excellent season so far and has continued that with another strong performance against the Atlanta Falcons getting effectively two sacks on Kirk Cousins in the same play. Of course, that only counts as one, but a very fun, you know, play for New Orleans. And so, you might as well get a look at what you have in a guy like Charlie Smith. You’re not setting yourself back. You’re getting an evaluation for the last six games of the season in a different kicker after you have spent 11 games continuing to stand by the kicker that has been inconsistent. And now you have to start to wonder to yourself which precedent is most important to set. Is the loyalism loyal? I don’t know. Is the angle of loyalty? There is a word for that. Loyalty is the word I was looking for. Uh is there an angle of loyalty that’s worth setting that precedent? Hey, you’re going to ride it through with Blake Groupy, not giving up on him and all that other stuff. And that and you’re hoping that the message that you’re sending to the rest of your roster is, hey, going to stand by you no matter what, even though you’ve sat other players and moved other players into opportunities. But is that the precedent that you want to set? Or is the precedent that you want to set, hey, there’s a limit. I would argue that the latter is a better precedent to set at this point that yes, there will be patience for you. Yes, people have earned grace over the course of their time, their years dedicated, the work that they put in, all those other things Blake groupy said after the game that it’s really frustrating to go into a game after everything going perfectly throughout the week, but then you get into a game and then it doesn’t work. The game is what matters. No one’s keeping practice stats. Practice stats don’t factor into your results in your games. They don’t add to your scores or anything like that. Executing on the field in the game, that is the requirement to hold a job in the NFL. And as of right now, that requirement is not being met. And so for New Orleans, go ahead and get a look. You have made a big deal about getting all of your young players exposure and development and all these other things. It’s time. It’s time. And again, it stinks because I think Blake is a great dude, awesome dude. But it’s not about that right now. And that’s why I mean, no disrespect to him, but it’s clear that the Saints need a change at kicker. And now is as good a time as any. As of right now, the only thing that’s happening is that you’re running out of time. That’s the only thing that’s happening from this point forward. So, it’s time to get a look. Time to get a look at what Blake Groupy, excuse me, uh, Charlie Smith could potentially bring to this team as a kicker while Blake Groupy’s struggles continue. All right, I want to give you a quick update on Alvin Chimera’s injury. Got tackled awkwardly uh, in the early going of the game. went to the injury tent, got checked out, went out on the sideline, kind of jogged up and down the sideline a little bit, went back to the sideline or went back to the injury tent, was given his helmet, and then stood on the sideline until he eventually went back to the locker room and his day was over with a knee injury. According to Nick Underhill over at New Orleans at Football, dealing with an MCL injury, seems that there has been that they have avoided any major damage. So, that’s good news, but it doesn’t mean that Alvin Camra won’t miss time. I thought Deon Neil impressed in the little bit of opportunities that he got uh in a bad situation in this game with Alvin Chamra out and so him and Audrey Estime could potentially be looking at or we could potentially be looking at as a running back room, the active running back room in next week’s game up against the Miami Dolphins. And so we’ll see what the running back room looks like moving forward if Alvin Kra has to miss some time. And of course, we’ll be keeping an eye out on what this means for Alvin Camra’s future as well as he enters in the last year of his contract next year in 2026. All right, y’all. Coming up in tomorrow’s episode, we’ll move past the storylines and into the numbers that tell the story of another New Orleans Saints loss. Don’t forget to check us out every day over on the GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network. We appreciate you very much as always, making us a part of your day, part of your routine for saying yes to me and the show. If you see me, please say hi. And if you need anything else around your New Orleans Saints in between these episodes, make sure you follow me on your favorite social media, RossJackna. Hit me up the family’s doing them, how you living, let me know how you moming them. And trust your dedication. I’ll holl at you. [Music]

The New Orleans Saints’ offense continues to stall, making it clear that vibes and optimism alone won’t rebuild the franchise’s future. Head coach Kellen Moore’s struggles to address red zone woes are raising tough questions about coaching accountability and the persistent lack of offensive identity.

Rookie quarterback Tyler Shough’s red zone development is being stifled by questionable play calling and personnel management, while Alvin Kamara’s injury adds further uncertainty to an already depleted unit.

With the playoffs out of reach, attention turns to experimentation and roster evaluation. Why Charlie Smyth should finally get his chance at kicker after Blake Grupe’s continued struggles.

0:23 – Saints’ Future: Vibes vs. Progress
10:04 – Red Zone Woes & Coaching Concerns
19:24 – Evaluating Charlie Smith at Kicker

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