The Saints set up in victory formation in what looked like it would be a kneel down and then handed it off to Jamaal Williams for a TD. pic.twitter.com/Spz8oKCkji
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 7, 2024
Sunday’s New Orleans Saints game stumbled into some late-afternoon dramatics when Jameis Winston and his teammates agreed to change the team’s play call. As head coach Dennis Allen said after the game, they wanted to score a late touchdown for their teammate Jamaal Williams.
It’s a nice gesture, but it undermined their coaches, and it goes to show little respect there is for Allen in the locker room — as well as how weak his grasp on what’s important to his players is. They first asked Allen if they could call a run for Williams, but were shut down, at which point they chose to take matters into their own hands.
Quarterback Jameis Winston and the offensive line agreed to audible into a run instead of the kneel-down as called. Right guard Cesar Ruiz shared his perspective to Nola.com’s Rod Walker, saying “I couldn’t go home without getting him one. Whatever heat that comes with that, put that on the O-line.”
Winston told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell that he apologized to Allen after the game for undermining his authority, though not all of his teammates felt the same way. To Walker, Winston said “We made a collective decision.”
It was a popular decision for some players like Cameron Jordan, who questioned the pushback when speaking with Terrell: “What do you mean? I loved it! I was mad Tyrann took so long to decide whether he wanted to score or not. Then we wouldn’t have had the little ‘How dare you score on us.’ It’s Atlanta Saints hate week”
It’s disappointing that Allen has had his job for two years — and spent much longer than that in the organization and in the city of New Orleans — and he still is so far off from being on the same page as the players and coaches. He’s out of touch. What the consequences of that may be are unclear. For now, Allen can take some solace in the fact that he’s finally ended a season with a winning record after five years as NFL head coach.
