The energy inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium was weird. Honestly, it felt more like a funeral than a regular-season finale, even though the New Orleans Saints had actually been on a bit of a heater lately. They walked in having won four straight games. They walked out with a 17-19 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
That score doesn't just represent another "L" in the column. It's basically the epitaph for a 2025 season that was, let's be real, a total roller coaster.
The Play That Broke the Streak
Everything came down to one moment late in the fourth quarter. The Saints were trailing 16-10 but moving the ball well. Tyler Shough, who has been trying to prove he’s the future in New Orleans, had the team sitting right on the edge of the red zone at the Atlanta 20-yard line. Then, disaster.
Falcons cornerback Dee Alford jumped a route intended for Dante Pettis. It was one of those "no, no, no" moments where you see the break before the ball even leaves the hand. Alford didn't just pick it; he ran it back 59 yards. That set up a Zane Gonzalez field goal that made it a nine-point game. Even with a late touchdown from Shough to Ronnie Bell, the onside kick failed, and that was that.
The New Orleans Saints game score of 17-19 officially ended the 2025 campaign at 6-11.
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A Season of What-Ifs
It’s kinda wild to think this team started 2-10. They were historically bad for a stretch there. Then, suddenly, they found this weird rhythm in December. They beat the Bucs, the Panthers, the Jets, and the Titans in consecutive weeks. People were actually starting to talk about "momentum" going into 2026.
But looking at the box score of this final game, the old ghosts came back to haunt them.
- Turnovers: Juwan Johnson fumbled on the very first play from scrimmage.
- Special Teams Blunders: A blocked punt in the first quarter basically handed Atlanta seven points.
- Red Zone Penalties: A touchdown pass to Kevin Austin Jr. got wiped off the board because of an offensive pass interference call.
If you're a Saints fan, you’ve seen this movie before. It’s frustrating because the stats actually tell a story of a team that could have won. Shough finished 22-of-35 for 259 yards. The defense, led by Carl Granderson—who had a sack and a weirdly athletic interception for a defensive end—actually played well enough to win.
The Kellen Moore Era: Year One
This was the first year under head coach Kellen Moore. Honestly, the 6-11 record looks bad on paper, and yeah, finishing 4th in the NFC South is a tough pill to swallow. But Moore said after the game he was "really proud" of how they stuck together.
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You saw some bright spots. Chris Olave made second-team All-Pro. Spencer Rattler showed flashes before Shough took the reigns. Alvin Kamara kept climbing the all-time leaderboards, passing names like Tiki Barber for receptions by a running back.
But the reality is the NFC South was won by the Carolina Panthers this year. The Falcons, despite beating the Saints, fired their coach Raheem Morris and GM Terry Fontenot just hours after the game ended. It’s a messy division.
Why the New Orleans Saints Game Score Matters for the Draft
Now that the final whistle has blown, the focus shifts. Because they lost this game and finished 6-11, the Saints are looking at a premium pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
They have massive holes to fill. The offensive line took a hit in the finale when Kelvin Banks Jr. went down with an ankle injury and had to be carted off. Taysom Hill, the eternal Swiss Army knife, also left with a shoulder issue. This roster is aging in some spots and desperately thin in others.
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If you're tracking the New Orleans Saints game score to see where they head next, the answer isn't on the field—it's in the scouting reports. The team showed they have the "fight" Moore keeps talking about, but fight doesn't win divisions. Talent and execution do.
The next few months will be about deciding if Tyler Shough is actually the guy or if that No. 5 or No. 6 overall pick needs to be a quarterback. For now, Saints fans have to sit with that 17-19 score and wonder what might have happened if that one pass to the 20-yard line had been six inches to the left.
Actionable Insights for Saints Fans:
- Watch the Draft Order: Monitor the official NFL draft tiebreakers now that the regular season is over to see exactly where New Orleans lands in the top 10.
- Monitor Coaching Staff: Keep an eye on Kellen Moore’s potential staff changes; year two usually sees a shift in positional coaches.
- Salary Cap Tracking: The Saints are notorious for "cap hell." Watch how Mickey Loomis restructures contracts this February to get the team compliant for the 2026 league year.