New Orleans Saints safety Justin Reid said for the last four games, it has taken two drives for the defense to settle in. But this pattern, he made clear, was “unacceptable.” Each week, the Saints put together a gameplan aimed to get off to a strong start. But in each of the last four games, the defense has allowed consecutive touchdowns to begin the game.
Reid said he sees too many mental mistakes — problems he said fall on the players, not the coaches.
“Once we execute, the product is a lot better,” Reid said, “but we can’t keep starting every game giving up 14 points before the first quarter is over with.”
There’s starting slow and then there’s the Saints defense.
New Orleans is the first team to allow back-to-back touchdowns on their first two defensive possessions in four straight games since at least 2000, according to TruMedia.
The streak started during New Orleans’ horrific loss in Seattle when Sam Darnold found Jaxon Smith-Ngjiba for a 12-yard touchdown and then Kenneth Walker ran in for a 3-yard score. Since then, the Saints have been diced in all sorts of different ways. A 43-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Buffalo’s Khalil Shakir. Two touchdowns to New York’s Theo Johnson. A 53-yard coverage bust was exploited by New England’s Drake Maye and DeMario Douglas.
The lack of defense has been so poor that the Saints’ first-quarter point differential sits at -49 — trailing only the 2014 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-55) through the first six weeks of a season since the turn of the century.
“I don’t think it’s all bad, it’s just, ‘Hey, we’ve got to be really sound from the start and take advantage of every opportunity,’” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “That’s the thing that shows up: The big plays that impact the game could show up from Play 1 to Play 75. It doesn’t really matter when it is. They all essentially have the same value, so you’ve got to take advantage of each opportunity you have.”
The splits are still jarring. As bad as the defense has been to start the game, the Saints do appear to lock in after that. They’ve allowed the third-fewest points in the second half this season, behind only the Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos. On Sunday, New England’s offense was only held to a field goal after halftime.
But if the Saints don’t improve, they’ll find themselves in rare company — if not setting records outright.
On just the first defensive drive, the last time the Saints allowed their opponents to score in four straight games was 2005 — the year New Orleans went 3-13. If the opening drive streak extends, the Saints would match the 2018 Atlanta Falcons with five straight such scores and the 2020 Houston Texans with six..
Since 1978, the first year of quarter tracking data available from Pro Football Reference, the 1984 Minnesota Vikings hold the record for most first-quarter touchdowns allowed by a defense allowed by a defense with 18 rushing or receiving touchdowns.
The Saints, whose defense has allowed nine first-quarter touchdowns, are on pace to break that mark.
Stats to know
35: Chase Young played 35 snaps in his season debut, good enough for 55% of the Saints’ defensive snaps. Surprisingly, the pass rusher received fewer than Cam Jordan — who finished with 38 (59%). But Moore said that was the range of snaps the Saints had in mind for Young given he missed more than a month with a calf injury.
-13.5%: Even after a bounce-back game for kicker Blake Grupe, the Saints have a special teams DVOA of -13.5% — the lowest after six games since Washington in 2013, according to FTN Fantasy’s Aaron Schatz. DVOA is a stat that measures efficiency, and the Saints’ special teams unit has been less than efficient to start the season.
64: Chris Olave has 64 targets this season, one behind only Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua. But Olave’s catch rate is just 60.9%, the sixth-lowest rate among players with at least 40 targets.
Up next
Look, Dennis Allen is on the docket as the former Saints coach is now the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears.
And yet, the Saints may have to worry more about Bears coach Ben Johnson and the schemes that the innovative playcaller will brainstorm. Chicago, too, has averaged the third-most first-quarter points per game in 2025 with 7.5, meaning the Saints will have to be on alert.
As for Allen, the Bears' defense hasn’t gotten off to the smoothest start as the unit has allowed the sixth-most points per game and has struggled in familiar ways with its run defense near the bottom of the league. But the Bears have talent and are scrappy, forcing the second-most turnovers in the league.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams took Spencer Rattler’s job at Oklahoma, adding another fun layer to the matchup.