Well that’s not great. New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen challenged the ruling of a completed pass to Indianapolis Colts receiver Josh Downs on Sunday, but as has been the case this year his appeal was unsuccessful. Referee Craig Wrolstad reviewed the instant replay and declined to overturn the play.
It meant that Allen fell to 0-3 on challenges this season. He previously appealed a New England Patriots pass completion and an incomplete pass to Rashid Shaheed in games earlier this year, but neither appeal was successful. Losing those challenges and timeouts can be costly and the margin for error is already mighty thin for Allen’s squad.
But we must acknowledge Allen’s past success on challenges: he was 4-0 when throwing the red flag last season, his first year as Saints head coach. And that’s going to keep him challenging officiating decisions. Allen has won these cases before and he’ll try it again. Hopefully he can get back in the win column sooner rather than later.
