SEATTLE -- Defensive lineman Cameron Jordan sat down at his locker after the New Orleans Saints' blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, and sighed to himself.
Jordan had just finished answering questions about the 44-13 defeat. When asked to sum up his emotions about the loss, he said he felt "pissed off."
Jordan chose to come back for a 15th season, only to watch the team stumble into an 0-3 start under new coach Kellen Moore. The Saints have now lost seven straight games dating back to last season, the second-longest active streak in the NFL.
"Beyond just the years of being here, it's knowing that there's a right way to play football, there's a right way to hold people accountable, and you have to be able to match that standard," Jordan said, citing self-inflicted wounds such as the 11 team penalties in Sunday's loss.
"Man, we're not a good enough team to overcome those right now and at the point in time, it clearly shows every game, these penalties have hurt us," Jordan said. "We've got to figure out a way to clean those up."
Now the Saints will have to regroup to avoid an 0-4 start with a road trip against the undefeated Buffalo Bills coming up in Week 4. They will undoubtedly be underdogs against the Bills, who lead the league in total offense (420 yards per game).
The Saints were at least competitive in their losses to the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers to start this season. But they fell into a three-touchdown hole against the Seahawks in the first five minutes of the game.
An unnecessary roughness penalty on Bryan Bresee on third-and-8 led to a 12-yard touchdown one play later. A 95-yard punt return for a touchdown came next. A blocked punt on the following series led to another quick score by Seattle.
The Saints never had a true chance after that start. The Saints looked like they were throwing in the towel early when they elected to go for a field goal on fourth-and-4 at the Seattle 9-yard line down 21-0 at the beginning of the second quarter; it was a decision, Moore said, to try to generate momentum knowing the Saints had an "uphill battle at that point."
"A game like that, you look up six minutes in, you're already down 21, you get chin-checked," Jordan said.
It was a stunning blow to the Saints, something safety Justin Reid described as being "kicked in the face." Reid actually meant that literally and physically, as he got an accidental cleat to the face early in the game. Reid returned to the game after being checked for a concussion and with a visor attached to his helmet after taking a blow to his nose.
"Like s---," he said when asked how it felt to lose a game that way. "I think that the character and personality of this team is, we don't have finger pointing, which is really good. There's a ton of accountability, but I mean, yeah, that was s---ty. That was just super s---ty. There's not really a whole lot to say or defend about it."
How the Saints rebound will be a test for Moore, who said adversity was the theme of Sunday's loss.
"We got one heck of a version of it today. We got beat in all three phases. We didn't do enough to give ourselves a chance. We've got to be prepared more. It starts with me," Moore said. " ... I appreciate our guys' battle through the second half. They didn't quit. I do appreciate that, but this is going to be a very powerful lesson for our guys on adversity and how we respond and simply, we can't start a football game like that."
How are the Saints going to handle the loss? For now, don't expect major personnel changes.
While Spencer Rattler was replaced by rookie Tyler Shough at the end of the game, Moore said that was a decision made to pull all the starters instead of anything to do with his starting quarterback's performance. Rattler finished 28-of-39 for 218 yards and a touchdown, threw one interception and was sacked twice.
"Our job is to get better right now and just get better and put ourself in a really good position to be successful, and so we're not there yet," Moore said. "We're 0-for-3 so far, doesn't feel good for anyone, but we got opportunities ahead of ourself and we got a group of guys that need to look forward and they will look forward and get better this week and go for it next week."
The veterans have also already cautioned the team to not ride the "roller coaster of emotions," according to Rattler. And if the veteran leaders need to talk to the team, that'll start as soon as the plane ride home begins, Jordan said.
"I mean it's got to be on us, right? It's got to be on guys who have seen this before. I mean, definitely been able to correct things before, and I assume it's going to be on the leaders of team to have this talk and get it done," Jordan said. "Now Monday we got to be able to say this is where we're at and then if we keep going this way, this is where we're going to finish up.
"The reality is at this point, we're already at a juncture where we have to be as critical as we can be right now."