Jeff Duncan : Honeymoon is over for Moore

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It’s one thing to lose to a more talented and experienced team, which the Seahawks clearly were at almost every position. But it’s another thing to go down the way the Saints did, in a flurry of mistakes and self-inflicted wounds. That's the sign of a bad team, an undisciplined and poorly coached one. Until Sunday, the Saints had largely accounted themselves well in defeat. They were competitive in close losses to the Cardinals and 49ers. But there was nothing competitive about their effort on Sunday. This was a total team failure, a Cat 5 failure of execution and effort. The Saints trailed from start to finish for the second consecutive game this season and have now led for only four minutes total so far this season. They committed 11 penalties for 77 yards, including five pre-snap infractions on offense. On defense, they missed tackles, blew assignments and committed personal foul infractions. And they hemorrhaged special-teams mistakes, including another missed field goal by Blake Grupe. “We’ve got to play better in all three phases,” Moore said. “This is a powerful learning experience for us. We’ll see how we respond.” Only three games into his debut season, Moore now has a massive challenge on his hands as he tries to right the ship and instill confidence in the locker room. Up next is a daunting trip to Buffalo, where the Saints will face the undefeated Bills at Highmark Stadium, where they have won 12 consecutive games dating to 2023.

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It all made for a long, embarrassing afternoon for the Saints. As they trudged off the field with one of their most lopsided losses in the last quarter century, a snarky Seahawks fan trolled them with a sign from the front row above their exit tunnel: "Hey, Saints, Amazon's hiring."

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