Throw that Week 3 game against the Seattle Seahawks out the window, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of who the New Orleans Saints are.

Good enough to hang around long enough to make you think they will win.

But not quite good enough to actually do so.

They’ll get your hopes up, but eventually a play or two will happen to remind you that they were just teasing you the whole time.

It happened again in Sunday’s 25-19 loss to a New England Patriots team whose turnaround is happening at a much faster rate than the Saints’.

The Patriots, who haven’t had a winning season since 2021, are already trending in the right direction under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.

The Saints, meanwhile, under Kellen Moore, showed once again they are still a work in progress.

Any thoughts you may have had that the Saints would carry over some momentum from the first win of the Moore era last week against the New York Giants probably went away on the Patriots’ opening possession, when Drake connected with DeMario Douglas for a 53-yard touchdown pass. It was a response to the Saints, who connected on a 53-yard pass play on their opening possession as well. The Saints ended up settling for a field goal, while the Patriots cashed in.

That’s been the Saints’ story much of the season. Their inability to make the most of their opportunities. Far too often, they have settled for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns. And before Sunday, even those field goals weren’t sure things. But credit to kicker Blake Grupe for making all four of his field goals after making just 10 of 15 coming into the game. But as is often the case with the Saints, they couldn’t get all three phases of the game to play well in the same game.

“We’re close, knocking on the door,” Moore said. “But we’re not opening it. I have to find a way to get better.”

The line between wins and losses in the NFL is a thin one. The Saints are learning that lesson the hard way. They are now 1-5. It’s their worst start after six games since 1999, Mike Ditka’s third and final season as head coach.

Making this start even more frustrating is that the Saints have been close in games. Sunday was their third loss by seven points or less.

“We don’t live in a league where we get moral victories for being close,” said Saints safety Justin Reid. “That isn’t what the NFL is. The NFL isn’t about points. It’s about W’s and L’s. We only have one W so far. It is a bit frustrating. Every man in the building knows what it takes to win. We’ve just got to go out there and execute better.”

The Saints’ defense, which forced five turnovers last week, struggled to stop Maye and Company. If you wanted a reason to party in the Dome for the second week in a row, you’ll have to wait until Thursday for Breezy Bowl (the concert by R&B star Chris Brown). The star on this day was Maye, who threw for 261 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those were caught by New Iberia native Kayshon Boutte. Boutte also hauled in a 21-yard reception on third-and-11 that was the final nail in the Saints’ coffin.

While the Patriots were able to count on their key receivers, the Saints weren’t. Chris Olave was unable to reel in what would have been a touchdown in the second quarter. And he also had a drop late in the fourth quarter that would have extended a drive. And there was the costly fumble by tight end Juwan Johnson.

It all added up to another loss for a team trying to find its way.

“We know we are a better team than what our record says,” Rattler said. “We have to find a way to win these games that are one-score games.”

It’s the difference between being 1-5 and 4-2.

“If we eliminate the mistakes, we have a chance against anybody,” Reid said. “Seriously. But we don’t stand a chance if we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s just too many mistakes across the board.”

Reid, in his eighth NFL season, says his role as a veteran is to make sure the accumulation of losses doesn’t fracture the team.

“We’re not going to let this turn into something where we’re going to start pointing fingers at each other,” Reid said. “I know the internet and everything is going to be wanting to tear us apart. The most important thing is that the team stays a team inside of the building. As long as we stay together, we’ll always have a chance.”

The Saints had a chance again on Sunday.

“We keep putting ourselves in advantageous positions, but we keep drawing the wrong card,” said tight end Foster Moreau. “We keep drawing the adversity card. All we can do as a team is keep putting ourselves in advantageous positions, and then when it’s time to go make plays, that’s what we’ve got to go do. Follow the schemes. Then when it’s your turn, go make the play.”

The Saints haven’t been able to do that.

They have a 1-5 record to prove it.