“Missed Opportunity”: Kellen Moore Gets Blunt on What Went Wrong for Saints Against Falcons

· Yahoo Sports

Kellen Moore needed points when the New Orleans Saints opened the second half with their longest sustained drive of the game. Yet the kind of points they needed, and the risk required to pursue them, became the more difficult question.

Trailing Atlanta by 17, New Orleans moved inside the 10-yard line before its possession stalled. What followed reduced the deficit but did not fundamentally change how many things still needed to go right for the Saints to complete a comeback.

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Kellen Moore Explains Field Goal Decision Down 17

Facing fourth-and-3 from Atlanta’s 8-yard line, Moore sent Daniel Carlson onto the field for a 27-yard attempt with 7:38 remaining in the third quarter.

“Long drive. We had a little bit of a missed opportunity on third down,” Moore said. “It got it to at least a 14-point game, get the points and then, if we could make a stop there, then we could go. We’d obviously have to be really aggressive the rest of the way out.”


Carlson converted, cutting Atlanta’s lead from 24-7 to 24-10. The Saints had turned a three-score deficit into what Moore considered a two-score game after a 13-play, 59-yard possession.

The math was pretty simple. Two touchdowns can tie the game. If the defense gets a stop, New Orleans gets the ball back and the score doesn’t look so bad.

Aug 23, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore looks on against the Denver Broncos during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

But the calculation was incomplete. By settling for three points at the 8-yard line, the Saints surrendered their best immediate opportunity to score one of the touchdowns they still needed.

Falcons’ Answer Exposes Risk in Kellen Moore’s Strategy

Coach Moore’s choice was not really about Carlson’s kick. It was about the next play. New Orleans had a simple plan. They had to stop Atlanta from scoring right after.

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LIX at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

But the Saints’ defense could not stop them. Atlanta came right back and scored.

Atlanta traveled 74 yards in nine plays while removing another 5:27 from the clock. Brian Robinson Jr. completed the drive with an 8-yard touchdown, extending the Falcons’ lead to 31-10 late in the third quarter.

Suddenly, the field goal didn’t actually help New Orleans get back into the game. It just wasted time. Soon, they had to take bigger risks anyway, but now they had less time on the clock and Atlanta scored another touchdown to make the lead even bigger.

Maybe the coach’s decision makes sense if you only look at that one play. Managers and coaches usually want to turn a three-possession game into a two-possession game. This is true, especially when the offense makes a really long drive down the field and you don’t want to walk away with zero points.

But if one looks at how the game was going, things change. Atlanta had already scored four times before this, and the New Orleans defense could not stop them at all. So this plan forced the weaker part of the team to fix a safe choice made by the offense.

Oct 5, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Kellen Moore walks along the sideline during the game against the New York Giants during the second quarter at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Kellen Moore said after the game that the Saints needed to play “really aggressive” later. But the problem is that New Orleans already missed its best chance to be aggressive when it was close to the end zone. When Atlanta scored next, the Saints lost a touchdown and also lost the extra time they wanted to save by kicking the field goal.

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