5 takeaways from the Saints' 44-13 loss to Seahawks

The New Orleans Saints are 0-3 to start the season for the first time since 2016, marking new low for the team after they opened the season with two games that were within reach.

Sunday's 44-13 road loss to the Carolina Panthers was anything but that, as the Saints continued to build a picture of quickly becoming one of the NFL's worst teams this early on in the season. They'll need to right the ship soon to avoid things getting out of hand too quickly, but the contest revealed just how much is going to have to change for them to accomplish that.

Here's a look into five things we took away from the loss:

1. Penalties abound

Just as much as the Panthers hurt the Saints on both sides of the ball, New Orleans hurt itself equally, if not even more. Penalties were one of the biggest culprits in the loss, with Saints drawing a total of some 11 flags in the loss for a total of 77 yards, some of which came during what could have been pivotal moments.

At one point, the Saints were flagged on four of six consecutive plays, followed by a blocked punt to cap it all off. Coincidentally, the Seahawks didn't fare much better, drawing eight penalties of their own for 70 yards.

2. Multiple explosive plays allowed

The Saints allowed plenty of plays on special teams and from the Seattle offense that caused the game to get out of hand quickly, most which could be blamed on a lack of pass rush and overall execution. The most notable of these was the 95-yard punt returned for a touchdown by Tory Horton.

With the big play, he has officially tied the record for the longest punt return in franchise history.

3. Spencer Rattler has flashes, but QB is still a question mark

The Saints have been struggling to find their franchise quarterback since the retirement of Drew Brees, and while Rattler has had his flashes, he showed shades of not being the answer on Sunday. To be fair, it's still early, and most first-year starters will go through their fair share of growing pains.

Rattler came under fire when he failed to connect on some crucial throws -- some of which occurred when this target was wide-open. He finished the game 28-for-39 passing, throwing for 281 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

According to ESPN Research, he is the first signal-caller to lose each of his first nine career starts since Deshone Kizer accomplished the same "feat" -- if we can truly even call it that -- back in 2017. Rattler and the Saints will hope this is not some type of foreshadowing, given that Kizer lost every one of his 15 career starts.

4. Lack of pressure from the pass rush

The Saints might have had their offensive struggles, something that almost sounds like a broken record at this point, but the defense certainly was not much better. While Sam Darnold had a lot of bright moments in his own right taking the snaps, the Saints' lack of bringing the heat didn't exactly make things difficult for him.

Per ESPN Research, Darnold was under pressure a grand total of five times, tied for the third-lowest total number of times he has been under duress in game he's entered as the starter. While he only attempted 18 passes, just four of those fell incomplete as he put up 218 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

5. Kellen Moore's play-calling should be very much in question

Aggression is typically seen as a positive thing in football -- it's easy to argue that a team should always play to win. But, making fourth-down decisions like going for it near midfield in a game that's only about three minutes in and scoreless should be described as "reckless" rather than healthily aggressive.

This was just one of many, and with the current state of the team, it's fair to call Moore and the long-term security of his job into question.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints vs. Seahawks: Takeaways from New Orleans' Week 3 blowout loss