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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Crissy Froyd

Saints took as many 20-point home losses in five days as in 15 years with Sean Payton

This is brutal. The New Orleans Saints only continued their string of bad luck on Thursday night when they fell 33-10 in a landslide loss to the Denver Broncos at the Caesars Superdome.

With this, the Saints now sit on a five-game losing streak with the threat of things getting much more disastrous than they already are if the team cannot glaring issue on both sides of the ball. But this stat stands apart from a night  full of ugly numbers.

New Orleans has now lost back-to back home games by a margin of at least 20 points, something it has not done since Weeks 16 and 17, way back in 2001. The Saints lost a pair of home games by 20 points or more during the Sean Payton era from 2006 to 2021 — those were a 41-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers in 2014 and a 31-6 defeat to the Buffalo Bills in 2021.

Needless to say, this isn’t a common occurrence and only serves as an additional indicator of just how bad things have truly declined. Pressure is building on Dennis Allen even if he’s brushing off questions about his job security.

The Saints have been doted on for their defensive effort in the past, but it’s been one of their greatest flaws as of late. The team was defeated 51-27 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, and trailed 33-3 until the last two minutes of the contest against the Broncos.

An offense that once combined for 91 points in the first two games of the season and looked like a brand-new unit has also been inconsistent at times, and now having a rookie quarterback in Spencer Rattler thrown into the fire unexpectedly does not help at all. Their defense has allowed 84 points in their last two games.

New Orleans will aim to avoid a further slide to a six-game losing streak when it faces the Los Angeles Chargers on the road on Oct. 27.

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