The New Orleans Saints lost to the Carolina Panthers 23-22 in Week 9 and responded by firing head coach Dennis Allen. This season began with a 37-point thumping of Carolina by Derek Car and New Orleans. Now, they are on a seven-game losing streak and well out of the playoffs. The internet was ablaze with players past and present flaming the team, putting the attention on the head coach.
Bryce Young kneeled at the end of the fourth quarter to win a game for the first time in his career on Sunday. It was only the third win of his NFL life. The Saints ripped up this brutal Panthers team in Week 1 but looked lost in Week 9 with their season on the line. The performance was indicative of the Dennis Allen era for the Saints and that is why he was fired.
What specific reasons do the Saints have for firing Dennis Allen? There is no shortage of examples of poor management throughout his tenure as the coach.
Social media ablaze with Saints’ incompetence
A scary moment happened in the first quarter of this game when Chris Olave was stretchered off. The wide receiver suffered his second concussion of the season on the play. The ball was high and in front of Olave which made him vulnerable to the safety flying down the field. While the hit was penalized and should not have happened, many believed that Carr was in the wrong.
Former Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas took to social media to blame Carr for the injury. “Dude tried to lie and say I was jealous of them making Chris [Olave] WR1 whole time he can’t even get him a decent ball. He need his a– whooped,” he said in just one of many posts. These posts show how little respect Allen commanded in the locker room from Thomas. During Sean Payton’s time, he would not do these things but now he is putting down the quarterback from his couch.
Active players joined in on the fun as well. Franchise legend Cameron Jordan posted “We just lost to the Panthers. I love y’all New Orleans truly had higher expectations and the best hopes for us, y’all deserve it.” This does not sound like a team with unabashed confidence in their head coach. The Saints may as well see if Darren Rizzi can be the head coach because Allen has not gotten it done.
Dennis Allen’s defense was part of the problem
Dennis Allen was a part of the Saints coaching staff for a long time under Sean Payton. He was the defensive coordinator for many years, outside of a short stint as the Raiders coach, and was named Payton’s replacement. While offense wins in the NFL, a strong defense can bring a team to the postseason. Allen has never had a strong defense as the head coach despite personnel moves to make them better.
The offense was bad again in this game, barely getting to 20 points against a catastrophic Panthers defense. The Saints’ defense had their chances to save the game and make everyone forget about Carr’s poor performance. Despite their name-brand players, Jordan, Chase Young, and Tryan Mathieu, they were unable to make a play.
The only other coach firing so far this season has been Robert Saleh with the New York Jets. Also a defensive coach, his unit was flying high while the offense floundered. The defense has taken a sharp decline under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich. That is not a fear the Saints or their fans need to have, as their defense has not been good for a while.
New Orleans’ future is looking bleak
The final reason for the firing of Dennis Allen is the lack of a future for the New Orleans Saints. They are embroiled in cap hell, as they keep kicking the can down the road and signing aging free agents. The bill will come due eventually and the era of the Aints will return before fans know it. While most of that is not Allen’s fault, he needed to make the most of this subpar roster to take advantage of the end of this window. He did not do that and was fired because of it.
The interim coach and new permanent coach will have their hands full with this roster. Whether they play Derek Carr or go back to rookie Spencer Rattler, this season is all but over. There have been coaches who can make the most out of a bad situation. Allen has made the worst of an okay situation that is only going to get worse.
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