Saints Head Coach Fired After Horrible Loss to Panthers

This season started with some very high hopes for the New Orleans Saints.

QB Derek Carr was telling anyone that would listen this offense was going to explode, and it did for two weeks.

Since then, the team has been flat, and now its head coach has been fired, along with a slew of other coaches at the midpoint of the season.

Enough

In Week One of the season, the Saints put up 47 points on the Panthers and everyone was talking about the team.

They backed that up winning their second game of the season in similar fashion, putting up 44 points on the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas.

That game shattered the illusion that the Cowboys were going to be a playoff contender, but it extended the charade of the Saints by one more week.

The Saints then lost two close games to real contenders, then lost by two scores to the Chiefs.

Honestly, nobody really thought the team would win any of those three games, but the real problem was the offense was no longer scoring.

Fast-forward to Week 9, and the Saints had not won another game. They were sitting at 2-6, but the Panthers were up next, a team they beat by more than four scores in the last game.

Well, the Saints fell 23-22, giving up 64 yards in four plays that took a total of 1:08 off the clock at the end of the 4^th quarter.

All was not lost, however, as there were still more than two minutes in the game and they only needed a field goal to win. However, the final drive fizzled out at midfield, and the Panthers took a knee to end the game.

After the game, ownership decided it had seen enough, and coach Dennis Allen was sent packing on Monday morning.

Allen has served as the Defensive Coordinator for the team from 2015-2021, and was then promoted to head coach in 2022.

He had a 7-10 season his first year, then claimed 2^nd place in the NFC South with a 9-8 record in 2023.

Needless to say, expectations were high, and a 2-7 start was simply unacceptable, so Allen was given his walking papers.

Special Teams Coordinator Darren Rizzi will lead the team on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.

This will give the Saints a leg up on hiring a new coach as former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is expected to be the big prize this offseason.