Foster Moreau stood in front of his locker after the New Orleans Saints lost their fifth game in six tries to start the season last Sunday, and he tried to find the right words for what had been happening offensively.
When the Saints have had the ball, they have been alternately good and bad, often on the same day -- or drive. They will spend an entire game successfully operating the offense between the 20s, only to falter once they get near the goal line. They're good on third down ... until they need to convert a certain yardage. They spent six weeks taking care of the ball and then they spent a Sunday coughing it up in bunches.
Without question, the Saints have shown offensive promise in their first year under head coach and offensive play caller Kellen Moore. Yet, as they get ready for their Week 8 matchup against the Buccaneers, the Saints rank bottom 10 in virtually every offensive category, including total offense (23rd) and scoring offense (29th).
So, how to square that?
"It's the unending battle of process versus result," Moreau said after a Week 6 loss to the Patriots. "You could be so uplifted and empowered by the process and how we're calling plays and how we react to adverse scenarios, and how our second-year quarterback is playing football, like, wow, this is awesome. There's so many things you can be positive about.
"Then it's like, OK, but the results aren't there. So then you have to be confident enough to be self-critical and start looking at the process, like what's wrong with my process. ... If your process is lacking somewhere, it all shows up in that three hours and 15 minutes on Sunday."
Things were always going to be a challenge for the Saints this season after their starting quarterback surprisingly announced his retirement four months before the season opener. But Moore has coaxed solid play out of quarterback Spencer Rattler to this point.
Entering Sunday's game, Rattler, a 2024 fifth-round pick, ranks 15th among NFL quarterbacks in QBR (55.8) and 13th in completion percentage (67.7%). On several statistical levels, he's played roughly the same or better than many of his first-round peers from the loaded 2024 draft class.
But the Saints are 1-6 for a reason. While the defense and special-teams units have played big parts in that record, the offense is coming up short in several key areas.
Take the red zone, for one.
Though it has found more explosive plays in the passing game lately, New Orleans has largely been forced to sustain long drives this season, stringing 10 or more plays together to drive downfield. That hasn't been much of a problem -- but finishing drives off has been.
"We know we've got to fix it, we know we've got to clean up in (the red zone) and make it happen on game day," Rattler said. "We are really good between the 20s, it feels like, and then we get down there and stall out."
NFL quarterbacks are completing 58.1% of their passes inside the opponent's 20-yard line, and across the league, teams are converting 61.7% of their trips to the red zone into touchdowns.
Now look at the Saints, who are completing nearly 10% fewer passes inside the red zone (48.3%) and are converting only 45% of their red zone opportunities into touchdowns (9 for 20). Of the 24 quarterbacks with at least 20 red-zone attempts, only three are completing a lower percentage in that area than Rattler.
Most of the Saints' red-zone issues are tied to their passing offense. As a team, the Saints are averaging 4.4 yards per carry inside the 20 -- No. 2 in the NFL -- and their +.21 Expected Points Added (EPA) per rush in the red zone ranks seventh. But they rank 27th in EPA per drop-back in the red zone.
Trading seven points for three points has come back to hurt the Saints several times, as three of their six losses have come by seven or fewer points. Moore said, as a play-caller, he needs to do a better job sequencing his play calls in that phase of the game, finding ways to manipulate the defense and create avenues to attack.
Then there's what is happening on third downs.
As stated before, New Orleans is doing a good job when it comes to sustaining long drives. The Saints have had 17 drives that spanned 10 or more plays this season, which is tied for the second most in the NFL. They would not be able to do that without some success on third down.
And, in some ways, the Saints are doing well in that critical situation: When facing a third-and-5 or less, New Orleans is converting first downs at a 62.2% clip, the sixth-best percentage in the NFL.
But add one yard to what the Saints need, and those numbers plummet: When needing six or more yards on third down, New Orleans has converted just nine of 52 opportunities (technically 53, but it opted for an end-of-half field goal on one of those).
Third-and-long is considered a low percentage play, no matter who the team is. The Saints percentage is just much lower than it should be.
"We haven't done a good enough job putting our guys in position to capitalize," said Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier. "We've had opportunities; we haven't seized the opportunities. We all need to do a better job."
Rattler, in particular, has struggled in those third-and-long situations.
He has dropped back 42 times when needing six or more yards on third down, and he has taken nearly as many sacks (four) as he's thrown passes that converted first downs (five).
Those five conversions on third-and-6-or-longer rank 31st among NFL quarterbacks, tied with Minnesota backup Carson Wentz (who has played in two fewer games), despite Rattler ranking eighth in such attempts.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye converted three third downs of nine or longer against the Saints alone. The Saints have not converted a single third-and-9-or-longer this season, having had their lone conversion being wiped off the board last week after replay review nullified a trick play on third-and-20.
And sometimes, even the things that have been working for the Saints have come undone, like they did last week against the Chicago Bears, when they doubled their season turnover total, took a season-high four sacks and rushed for a season-low 44 yards.
"There's been some things we're doing good, and then there's some things where it's like we've got to figure it out to get to where we want to be," said running back Alvin Kamara. "At times, it's frustrating, because I think we've got talent. I think we've got a lot of guys that want to do the right things, and sometimes the execution isn't there."
So, with the results not where they want them to be, the Saints and Moore are forced to turn a critical eye toward their process.
"Always," Moore said. "You've got things you believe in, but you're constantly trying to get better, whatever that may be. Whether that is the way we study the red zone, do we need to find better solutions there? Or third down on offense, or defense, the third-down pressure game.
"You're constantly trying to say, 'This is where we're at, we feel good about these things, what are the areas we can keep growing in?' That's all aspects of our organization."