Dennis Allen could have improved to 10-10 as the New Orleans Saints head coach on Sunday. Instead, well, he didn’t. His team let too many opportunities get away from them in a really tough loss to the Green Bay Packers (one of those being that this Packers team was missing four starters on offense and their best defender). Allen will have to wait a while longer to improve to .500 — if he can get there at all.
The major story focuses on Derek Carr. He was playing well enough prior to his injury, hitting his receivers in stride and in some tight windows. But he held onto the ball too long and was cut down during a sack, falling hard on his throwing shoulder. He left the game to be further evaluated at a local hospital.
Buy Saints TicketsAnd Jameis Winston wasn’t up to the task of replacing him. The offense punted on their first four possessions with him under center and tried a 46-yard field goal on their final drive, which rookie kicker Blake Grupe pushed wide of the uprights. The protection wasn’t much better for Winston than it was for Carr. Offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael Jr. did a terrible job keeping pressure off of him with the run game. The Saints gained 36 rushing yards on 9 carries in the second half but Carmichael insisted on throwing the ball even when they were guarding a lead.
Some of that is due to self-inflicted wounds. After being penalized just once in the first half, the Saints offense was fouled four times in the second half, often setting their offense up in long-yardage situations. They picked the worst time to get sloppy.
Let’s talk about the defense, too. The Packers didn’t fear the Saints cornerbacks in the second half. They repeatedly went after Isaac Yiadom (starting in place of Paulson Adebo) and Alontae Taylor (in his third career start in the slot) and Green Bay found a lot of success. They gained chunks of yards on defensive pass interference penalties against both players on a second-half scoring drive, and Yiadom was at fault on the Packers’ game-tying touchdown pass. It was brutal.
All of this falls on Allen. It was his decision to stick with Carmichael as the offensive play caller. He chose to bring Winston back as his No. 2 quarterback. He put Yiadom and Taylor in those positions, and he let off the gas to keep Green Bay in this game in the second half. We’ll have to wait and see whether he can achieve a winning record in New Orleans, but he won’t even hit .500 until he’s earned it. Right now he has the record he deserves.
