After suffering their latest and most brutal loss of the season last Monday night, the New Orleans Saints are coming out of their Week 14 bye week. The time off can sometimes equip teams with the time that they need to make changes on the coaching staff. For a 4-9 football team, said changes would not be far from reality. In his day-after conference call with New Orleans media though, head coach Dennis Allen may have put the kibosh on any such changes coming to fruition before the season’s end.
“No, I don’t see any dramatic changes happening,” Allen told ESPN’s Kat Terrell after the Buccaneers loss. “When you’re sitting in, really going into Week 14… I don’t think any drastic changes are what’s going to fix, you know, the win-loss column. I think our execution, I think us as coaches, players, everybody, I think we’ve all got to just keep grinding and working to improve.”
The commitment to the status quo was further cemented with Allen’s announcement that quarterback Andy Dalton would remain under center in the team’s Week 15 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons. A decision that has continued to draw criticism as the Saints offense has struggled on third downs, in the red zone and even to find the endzone as of late. But the team feels that the offense around Dalton could be better. How that happens without changes elsewhere is the question.
While “dramatic changes” may be ruled out when it comes to the coaching staff, there are some adjustments that could be made without “upsetting the apple cart,” a concern once voiced by Allen. One of which would be addressing play-calling. Considering the talent the Saints have on the roster, the idea that things could be better around the quarterback does not feel like an insurmountable task to achieve. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael has done wonders with the organization in long and good-standing tenure with the franchise. However, he has not impressed as a full-time play-caller this season.
Some of that can be tied to execution, sure. But even decisions like taking the team’s top-three pass catchers off of the field at pivotal moments, the offense’s inability to get running back Alvin Kamara involved and the disappointing numbers on third down and in the red zone, it feels like at least shaking the apple cart is warranted.
There are a couple of ways to do this. The first may be too drastic for what the organization has shown it is willing to do in-season. That would be to replace Carmichael at play caller. They could do this with quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Ronald Curry for some portion of the final four games if they went that route. Everyone on the Saints staff that has spoken with media has sung Curry’s praises and Carmichael even stated once that Curry was “ready” to be a play caller in the league.
If that is too much for New Orleans at this point in the season, at least considering a change to the overall approach might be a more comfortable shift. Being more aggressive on third and fourth downs, leaning on the playmakers like Kamara and offensive weapons Taysom Hill more in the red zone, implementing a more aggressive game plan early rather than waiting to dig into the play sheet. Easier said than done, of course. But something’s going to have to shift somewhere if the team believes they should be getting more from the offense.
And that sentiment has not gone without acknowledgement from Allen. “Andy’s done some good things,” he said. “I think we’ve got to do a lot of other things around him to help him. And that includes, you know, us a coaching staff putting everybody in better positions.” But saying it is one thing, actively taking the steps to getting it done might require some of those “dramatic” adjustments.
