The hope is that a lopsided loss Monday night will be the springboard to a successful run of future games for the New Orleans Saints (1-3), beginning Sunday with the last of three consecutive home games, against the Vikings (4-0) in the Caesars Superdome.
Monday's 45-24 loss to Atlanta was a system jolt, but Tuesday also brought with it the clarity that there are 13 remaining regular-season games and the Saints can straighten their path and move forward if they can smooth several rough areas.
"I think the focus and the attention moving forward...needs to be on correcting the mistakes that we've made and getting better and looking forward to the future," Coach Kellen Moore said Tuesday. "I think this is a great opportunity for our team, ultimately. That's the way we have to look at it — it's a great opportunity to evaluate yourself and get better moving forward. There's a lot of really good football ahead of us ourself, we have to use this moment as kind of a momentum builder, so to speak, as far as getting better moving forward."
Not that Monday's sting quickly dissipated.
Tuesday was officially an off day for all players except those rehabbing injuries, but during postgame, several uninjured, visibly upset players suggested that showing up at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center Tuesday would be a wise choice.
"Lot of motivated guys, lot of guys that want to get things right and so, we certainly recognize the disappointment last night and I think our guys are looking forward to the path moving forward," Moore said. "Late-night game, you saw a lot of our guys in our building trying to get better today. Whether it be rehab treatment, in the weight room, in the film room, certainly see a lot of faces."
The work is needed: The Saints have totaled six points in the first quarter and 26 in the first half this season; opponents have scored 31, 35 and 45 points in their three losses; New Orleans has rushed for 354 yards this season and averages 3.6 yards per carry; and opponents have totaled 591 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 117 carries (5.1 yards per carry), with the Falcons accounting for 205 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
"Felt like we had a good week of practice...unfortunately the game and the practice didn't come together," Moore said. "It's a disappointing game — there's a few moments, in all three phases there was some good, but overall Atlanta played better than us and took advantage of the opportunity."
Moore said there will be more discussion regarding tweaks to start faster.
"Logistics, scheduling, to try and maybe adjust practice plans accordingly," he said. "And obviously looking at what the back end looks like as far as our preparation of what we're doing early in games from a schematic standpoint. Those are really the two main areas."
The run game, which settled toward the end of last season, hasn't been as consistent this year.
"When you have a four-game sample size, there's going to be some things that are going the way you want them to and there's gonna be some things that aren't," Moore said. "Unfortunately for us, I think the first and second down run game has got to be a little bit better. We just haven't been able to get those going as efficiently as possible, but I think there's some other things that we've been doing that have been a little bit more effective.
"I think we've invested a lot, put a lot of time last year and this year in that outside zone (run game). There's been examples of it that have gone well, we've just got to be more consistent there — fundamentally and schematically.
"Everyone has a piece in (the run game). Everyone's going to make a note of the offensive line or running back play, I just think we've got to do a little bit better job with our perimeter blocking, we've got to hit the safeties, block corners when they're at point of attack, make the adjustments at the line of scrimmage and play better there."
