The New Orleans Saints have turned into a terrible team in recent weeks, and head coach Dennis Allen absolutely deserves blame.
Being a head coach naturally puts a person in a tough position. In a way, their livelihood is tied to how other people perform, and other circumstances outside their control. However, that’s the job coaches sign up for. When it goes well, it’s a beautiful experience and they’re rewarded with big contracts. When it goes bad, though, it’s like being stranded alone on an island, and their job can be snatched from them overnight.
Right now, it’s going really bad for New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen. In his third season as head coach, he has an 18-23 record, and he’s going through the roughest stretch of his tenure. The Saints are on a five-game losing streak, with multiple embarrassing performances, and the team seemingly loses a key player every day to injury.
Allen says he’s not worried about losing his job, but with the way things look in New Orleans right now, it’d be irresponsible to say he’s not on the hot seat.
With how the season is unfolding for New Orleans, there are probably some people willing to defend Allen, and provide him different excuses. Those people definitely aren’t Saints fans, as the fans have made their stance clear, but there’s certainly a contingent of people making a case that this isn’t all Allen’s fault.
That case would likely start with the injuries New Orleans has faced. It’s a fair point; the Saints have been ravaged by injuries since the offseason. It’s not just that players are being injured, it’s that key players are being injured.
Ryan Ramczyk, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Marshon Lattimore, Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Derek Carr, Taysom Hill, and Chris Olave have all missed games this season. Rashid Shaheed and Paulson Adebo both just had season-ending surgeries, and other key veterans like Alvin Kamara and Tyrann Mathieu have battled numerous injuries despite not missing games.
That’s undoubtedly a lot to overcome.
Beyond the injuries, another point in the case defending Allen would be the classic argument that the head coach isn’t on the field. Again, that’s valid. Regardless of what coaches teach or call, players have to go out and execute. Allen isn’t on the field missing tackles and not picking up blocks.
While all of this is true, the reality of the situation is what Allen and the Saints are going through is definitely unfortunate, but it’s not unique. Every year in football, a few teams are ravaged by injuries; it’s the brutal reality of a violent game. However, every team responds differently.
NFL fans will tell you it seems like every season the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens lose half their team to injuries. Still, they’re always in the playoff picture at the end of the year. That’s because they have established cultures and unquestioned leaders in Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh.
It’s not just about wins and losses, though. While that’s the most important thing, performance also matters a great deal. A 2-5 record is nasty regardless of how it’s cooked, however, it’d be much easier to digest if it came with noble performances from the Saints.
That’s not what the team has served to fans. New Orleans has put poor football on the table— the kind of film that has people questioning if players want their head coach to be fired. That’s indefensible, and it has nothing to do with injuries.
It has everything to do with attitude, mindset, fight, and culture. The head coach is responsible for instilling those values in a team, and getting players to carry out the standard everyday. There seems to be no standard in New Orleans right now, and regardless of the circumstances, Dennis Allen has to answer for that as the head coach of team.
