Can Saints Management And Coaching End The Six-Game Skid?

The New Orleans Saints franchise is amid a crisis. A six-game losing skid with mounting injuries and underachieving players are just a part of the problem. The primary concern: Is it fixable?

The Saints' coaches, with ten days of preparation, delivered a disappointing 26-8 performance in Los Angeles. Tough Halloween is in a few days, it's not a trick that the 366 yards of offense did not make it a close game. The 2-of-16 third down conversions were equally disappointing, matching the Los Angeles Chargers' 3-of-12 day at SoFi Stadium. Week 8 was not the Saints' finest 3-hours of football, to say the least.

New Orleans ran 68 plays, averaged 5.4 yards, and held the football for 28:52 minutes. However, the seven penalties for 66 yards and the lack of execution at critical moments were too much for the Saints to overcome. Thirty yards of penalties were drive-killers for New Orleans, which resulted in five straight punts that opened the game.

The much-ballyhooed Klint Kubiak's offense and Dennis Allen's defensive play-calling have been ineffective throughout the team's six-game losing streak. It's been nearly two decades since the team had a dismal losing record, similar to the "homeless" 2005 squad.

This past January, executive vice president and general manager Mickey Loomis sat with the local media to address the scrutiny of retaining Dennis Allen as the head coach. He led with comparisons of Allen's first seasons with the Saints to legendary coaches Chuck Knoll (Steelers), Tom Landry (Cowboys), Bill Walsh (49ers), and Bill Belichick (Patriots). "The easy thing to do is the look at the results and say, 'Oh no, we got to have a change.' You got to look beyond that."

At this season's stage, the question for Loomis and the New Orleans executives is, "What are we aiming for?" Why does the franchise sit at 2-6 after a promising start to the season?

Fair evaluations must include the production of the coaches and team, but also the front office.

Rookie quarterbacks are proving their worth in the NFL. Despite Derek Carr's injury for the Saints, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, and Caleb Williams are three rookies leading teams with winning records. Thus, the Saints could win with Spencer Rattler, but often, he needs help from his teammates.

Injuries are a factor but are not the main contributing factor to the losses. Loomis said, "It's collective. It's the players, it's the coaches, it's me —variables of sometimes we don't have control of." His assessment: "Dennis Allen is a good coach." January, yes. For the team going into Week 9? No. Good coaches may occasionally fail to provide "good" coaching.

We cannot solely point the finger at Allen; Kubiak's offense sometimes lacks continuity during the abysmal losses. New Orleans has been outscored 177-94 during the skid. Ouch! Affecting quarterbacks Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener is a porous offensive line that makes mistakes with protection and penalties.

But as Carr nears his return, the o-line and lack of depth in receivers won't change the truth — it's not good in New Orleans. There's never been a mid-season coaching change due to poor production, resulting in an NFL team reaching the postseason. Only in the Las Vegas Raiders, moving on from Gruden's alleged racially insensitive emails, does a coach get a team to the playoffs.

Halfway through this season, New Orleans shouldn't be concerned about the nine games remaining but try to go 1-0 in facing an equally disappointing Panthers squad in Week 9. Just win one. Will they?

We shall see.