On Thursday night, Sean Payton was back on the sideline at the Caesars Superdome. Drew Brees was honored at halftime as he entered the New Orleans Saints’ Hall of Fame.
That’s what made the game itself so depressing for Saints fans. It was a reminder of exactly how far the team has fallen since the glory days of Payton and Brees.
The Saints had an ugly 33-10 loss to Payton, their former coach, and the Denver Broncos.
The Broncos weren’t all that good, the Saints were just worse. Some of that was out of the Saints’ control. They were without many key players due to injury, including quarterback Derek Carr and top receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler did his best, but he was a fifth-round draft pick for a reason. The Saints struggled to move the ball and sustain drives all night.
New Orleans started 2-0 but has lost five straight since then. The past two losses have been embarrassing, for different reasons. Last week the defense got completely run over by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 51-27 defeat. On Thursday, it was a loss to a coach and franchise icon whom the Saints traded away to Denver in the 2023 offseason.
The Saints haven’t lost back-to-back home games by 20 or more points since 2001, according to NFL researcher Tony Holzman-Escareno. They lost two home games by 20 or more during the entire 15-year Payton era.
All of it can’t sit too well with Saints ownership, which has to be getting impatient with head coach Dennis Allen. His future, and whether he can survive another embarrassing home loss, will be a big topic of conversation after Thursday night.
Saints struggle again on Thursday night
The game was ugly, and one perplexing decision had to have fans searching for the remote. At the end of the first half, the Saints called a timeout with four seconds left. Then they took a knee to run out the rest of the clock.
Neither team put on much of a show. The Broncos were good enough to get a win, at least. They’re 4-3 this season, which is a testament to Payton’s coaching.
Rookie quarterback Bo Nix has been up and down this season, and he was inconsistent from play to play on Thursday. He had a viral highlight when he somehow overthrew one wide open receiver and underthrew another on the same play.
Nix did some things well though. He had 134 yards passing and 41 yards rushing in the first half. The Broncos weren’t good in the red zone and kept settling for field goals, but that was still good enough for a 16-3 lead at halftime. Denver keeps getting wins as Payton gets the most out of his roster. Saints fans know all about that.
After Brees’ halftime ceremony, there wasn’t a lot of noise from the Saints fans who stuck around. There wasn’t much reason for excitement for the rest of the game, and there isn’t much for the rest of the season either.
Saints’ fall continues
The Saints looked very good to start the season. They were 2-0 with a couple of high-scoring blowout wins. As it turned out, the defenses of the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys, their first two opponents, aren’t very good.
Since then the Saints have posted five straight losses. Injuries have been a big reason, but not the only reason. It’s hard to blame injuries, most of which have taken place on the offensive side, for the effort of the defense the past couple games.
The Broncos didn’t need to do much in the second half but run the ball. The holes for the running backs were massive. Getting hammered on the ground for a second straight week wasn’t a good look for the Saints and it certainly didn’t reflect well on Allen.
The Saints are a mess on both sides of the ball. Seeing their former coach come to New Orleans and post an easy win won’t sit well with anyone.
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