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New Orleans Saints again unable to complete task, lose third one-score game this season

"We’ll clean up, we’ll do better, we’ll come out with a better attitude and a different result next week."

Check out the game action photos from the New Orleans Saints game against the New England Patriots for Week 6 of the 2025 NFL season on October 12, 2025 at Caesars Superdome.

It's not the fight, it's the finish.

It's not the play, it's the precision.

It's not the drive, it's the discipline and details.

The New Orleans Saints (1-5) lost their third one-score game this season on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome, falling 25-19 to New England.

Add that to earlier losses against Arizona (20-13) and San Francisco (26-21), and the Saints have riddled themselves with "couldas" and "wouldas," but not filled the holes with finished business.

"Tough," cornerback Alontae Taylor said. "I think it speaks volumes for us, though. Teams ain't just blowing us out like we're just trash. I think we're right there, and we've just got to find that hump and just stay consistent with that and try to get some wins under our belt."

Sunday followed a familiar pattern.

Quarterback Spencer Rattler was efficient and turnover-free — 20 of 26 for 227 yards with no interceptions, but no touchdowns. New Orleans split success on its two red zone trips — a short field goal by Blake Grupe and a 1-yard touchdown run by Taysom Hill — and settled for field goals when drives stalled at the New England 30-, 20- and 36-yard lines.

Grupe's last field goal, a 54-yarder with 13:41 left, pulled New Orleans to within 25 -19. And the defense, which struggled while allowing the Patriots to convert six of 13 times on third down, forced punts on consecutive New England possessions.

The Saints began their final two possessions at their own 25- and 10-yard lines. The first ended after two plays when tight end Juwan Johnson caught a pass from Rattler over the middle, and lost a fumble after a 14-yard gain to the 50, and the second ended after the offense gained 28 yards on five plays.

The Patriots converted one last third down on their final drive — a 21-yard pass on third-and-11 from their own 30-yard line with 2:40 left — that allowed them to run out the clock.

New England quarterback Drake Maye (18 of 26 for 261 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions) had completions on fourth-and-4, and third-and-11 (twice) in the second half, while all three touchdown passes came on first down in the first half.

"You're guarding pretty good receivers," Taylor said, noting Maye's ability to extend plays and give receivers extra time to uncover. "They're finding ways, and Drake and them have a pretty good connection.

"So you're just going to find a guy open and throw the ball. We've just got to tighten up on our end. If we've got to cover longer, then we've got to cover longer."

Even though the Patriots didn't convert the game's lone turnover into points, they siphoned 2:45 off the clock and pinned New Orleans deep with a punt. The Saints took possession at their 10 with 5:51 left.

"It says in the Word, like, don't get tired in doing good," Johnson said. "We have a lot of stuff that we're doing that's good, so don't get tired in doing it. You're going to be rewarded when the time is right. The time isn't right, but one thing we're going to do is just keep working, clean up a few things and that's where we're at.

"Our red zone efficiency needs to be a little better, that's something we're going to clean up and be a little bit more efficient. I had a turnover, so obviously clean that up.

"The biggest thing is just being better and sound. It's just little things that a lot of people don't see, but we see. We'll clean up, we'll do better, we'll come out with a better attitude and a different result next week."

Several winning elements have been displayed. The Saints continue the quest to minimize — if not eliminate — the costly ones.

"At the end of the day we didn't take advantage of the opportunities that were presented to us," Coach Kellen Moore said. "Every game is going to have those opportunities, and you've got to take advantage of them. They won the turnover ratio, they won some of the situational stuff and that's how this game was decided.

"I've got to find a way for myself to coach better, to put ourself in better situations to be more successful as a football team. Because there's too much good, and not enough in those little margins."

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