Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees shares a smile with Saints owner Gayle Benson during his induction into the team's Ring of Honor at halftime of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD
STAFF PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD
As he was inducted into the New Orleans Saints Ring of Honor at halftime, [Drew Brees](https://nola.com/tncms/asset/editorial/e64a112c-904f-456d-8ca6-62505aaa9188) sounded genuinely proud. The Hall of Fame quarterback, a beam of light reflecting off his gold jacket, told the crowd he loved them — and that he would always represent New Orleans.
An hour or so later, Brees sounded genuinely critical.
This time in the broadcast booth, calling the Saints’ 23-13 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Brees was back in his role as a color commentator for Fox. And technically, the former Saints great was just doing his job. But here, a part of him was still representing New Orleans.
Brees’ comments reflected the growing conversation around coach Kellen Moore and the Saints, now 1-4 to start the season.
Brees said Moore’s offense was “pretty predictable” on first down. He questioned, for instance, why the Saints hadn’t leaned on a play-action attack against a blitz-heavy team like the Vikings. He noted how running back Alvin Kamara was put into “impossible situations” when asked to block Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson three plays in a row.
“You gotta have answers,” Brees said.
The Saints again had little to none.
Unlike last week, when the Atlanta Falcons stomped New Orleans on “Monday Night Football,” Moore did not blame Sunday’s loss on a lack of preparation. But even if they were ready, the Saints couldn’t solve what was in front of them. And too often, that was a blitzer right in front of quarterback Tyler Shough.
Shough was blitzed on 16 of his 26 dropbacks — and that relentlessness contributed to the worst start of his young career. The 27-year-old threw for only 96 yards (16 of 25) and was picked off twice, resulting in a career-low 38.1 passer rating.
But the Saints’ problems went beyond the quarterback. The Saints finished with 142 yards, their lowest since Week 2 of the 2021 season. Despite forcing two turnovers, the defense was carved up by Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray (229 yards on 24 of 30 passing) — especially on third down (8 of 16). And on special teams, the Saints committed two major blunders that shifted momentum to Minnesota.
Simply put, at 1-4, the Saints don’t look like a very good football team right now.
“I felt like we had a plan (against the blitz),” Moore said. “Obviously the plan wasn’t good enough. They did a better job. They got us in too many of those favorable passing situations, and then they were able ot take advantage of them.
“We weren’t able to get those done. Obviously, that’s on me.”
This was a matchup, especially, where coaching was poised to matter. The Vikings (5-0) are undefeated in part because they blitz like no other team. Handling that pressure required Shough and the offense to be on the same page, and it required the coaching staff to help them identify those looks.
Moore’s strategy, on paper, made sense. The best way to stop a team from blitzing is to avoid obvious passing situations entirely, so New Orleans tried to run the ball. And initially, that plan looked sound.
The Saints went into halftime with a 7-6 lead largely because of a 15-play, 66-yard drive that saw Kendre Miller punch in a 1-yard touchdown. New Orleans also played aggressively on the series, converting two short fourth downs to keep the chains moving.
But unsurprisingly, the Saints’ rushing attack was too inconsistent to make the game plan reliable. After Miller’s touchdowns, the Saints rushed for just 10 yards on their next six possessions. They had seven carries, five of which came on first-and-10 — and only one of those five had positive yardage.
A gain of 1 yard, mind you.
Pre-snap errors and other penalties further put New Orleans in unfavorable down-and-distances.
“Those odds are not really in your favor for those situations,” Shough said of facing tasks like second-and-20 and third-and-15.
“It’s hard to get drives going when we draw up plays that hit like we expected it to and we shoot ourselves in the foot (with a penalty),” wide receiver Devaughn Vele said.
Once New Orleans fell behind, Minnesota’s lead felt almost insurmountable. Even after safety Jonas Sanker recovered a fumble and returned it for an 87-yard touchdown, Saints kicker Daniel Carlson missed the extra point, keeping the game tied at 13.
Carlson’s miss was another critical special-teams mistake, following Jayden Price’s fumble on a kickoff return to start the second half. Each time, the Saints couldn’t respond. After Carlson’s miss, the defense returned to the field and gave up a touchdown in just six plays.
Shough, too, started to press. On third-and-7, he was nearly intercepted on a target to Bryce Lance when he anticipated the rookie receiver cutting inside on a slant, only for Lance to go deep on a double move.
Then, to seal New Orleans’ defeat, Shough went back again to the double move on a pass to Chris Olave — only for Minnesota cornerback Byron Murphy to know that was coming and stay deep to intercept the throw.
That time, Olave slowed down his route by cutting inside.
“They were really prepared for those moments,” Shough said of the Vikings.
The sequence arguably suggests New Orleans’ offense was predictable, just as Brees had suggested on the broadcast. Minnesota could tell what was coming because of the Saints’ repetition. And while every team repeats concepts throughout a game, the Saints don’t seem to break tendencies enough.
Take play action, the area Brees highlighted the most in the fourth quarter. According to FTN Fantasy, the Saints entered the afternoon with a play-action rate of just 17.7% — the fourth-lowest in the league.
On Sunday, according to Pro Football Focus, the Saints ran play action just once — a 14-yard completion to Olave.
To be fair, play action might not have been the answer. Maybe Moore and his staff didn’t trust the offensive line to hold up against a ferocious Vikings defense. Maybe Moore felt the Saints were in too tough a spot — whether it was the game clock or the down and distance — for the plays to work.
But on the call, Brees was right to wonder why.
And “why?” lately keeps coming up with these Saints.
“Sometimes, you go through storms,” Moore said. “Inevitably, storms end. But we’re going through a little bit of one.”