Saints' Dennis Allen, Coaches Should Be Under the Microscope

New Orleans coach Dennis Allen and his staff have had an up-and-down start to 2022. Here's how they've fared so far and why we should be encouraged as the Saints enter a pivotal stretch of the season.

Coach Matt Rhule was fired by the Carolina Panthers on Monday. The Panthers had a 10-23 record in two full seasons with Rhule and was 1-4 this year before the move. Rhule is the first NFL coach to be fired this year, but Carolina may not be the only team to make an in-season move.

Nathaniel Hackett, in only his first season with the Denver Broncos, is already under heavy fire from the media and fans for an inept offense. There are some rumors swirling around Arizona’s Kliff Kingsbury and Frank Reich of the Colts after slow starts, despite previous success with their teams.

Mike McCarthy of Dallas, Brandon Staley of the Chargers, and Tennessee’s Mike Vrabel entered the year under criticism but have gotten off to solid starts. Teams like Jacksonville, the Jets, Cleveland, and Washington have traditionally lost patience with coaches quickly.

This is not to suggest that any of these coaches are going to be fired during the season. However,with the impatience of today’s NFL, some of these first-year coaches may even be cut loose after an unsuccessful inaugural season. None of these coaches even had the daunting task that was facing Dennis Allen of the New Orleans Saints.

Allen, 50, replaced a potential Hall of Famer when Sean Payton stepped down in January. This is Allen’s second stint as a head coach. He coached the Oakland Raiders from 2012 to early 2014 before getting fired with an 8-28 record. Since then, Allen had been Payton's defensive coordinator, returning to a Saints organization where he’d been defensive backs coach from 2006 to 2010.

Allen also served as head coach during a 9-0 win at Tampa Bay in 2021 while Payton was sidelined with Covid. He’d come into 2022 with an experienced coaching staff that included offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, offensive line coach Doug Marrone, and co-defensive coordinators Kris Richard and Ryan Nielsen.

Despite Allen’s organizational skills and continuity on the staff, the Saints have gotten off to a rocky start to the year.

Slow Starts/Motivation

New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen talks to the referee against the Seattle Seahawks. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans has scored just twice on their opening drives this season and have been outscored, 30-10, in the first quarter. They've been outscored 48-34 in the first half, with their 17 first half points against Seattle on Sunday matching their entire opening half total through the first four games. New Orleans has trailed in all but one game this season when they've come out for third quarter action.

The Saints were outplayed for three quarters by a vastly inferior Atlanta team on opening week and for the entire game by an equally inferior Panthers squad in week three.

Even after spending the entire week in London, New Orleans looked lethargic and unmotivated in the opening quarter against Minnesota in week four before outplaying the Vikings over the final three quarters.

Discipline/Sloppy Play

New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen looks on against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans leads the NFL in penalty yardage and ranks next-to-last in number of penalties. The Saints also lead the league with 13 turnovers committed. Two of those were returned for touchdowns, with several others either stopping sure scoring drives or setting up opponents for easy scores.

Team composure crumbled after a week 2 brawl against Tampa Bay resulted in CB Marshon Lattimore getting ejected. The Buccaneers outscored the Saints 17-7 after the fourth quarter incident on their way to a 20-10 win. The team’s coaching and veteran leadership failed to keep the squad focused, leading to a late meltdown.

Untimely penalties have pushed the Saints out of potential field goals several times this season. The avalanche of turnovers has not only destroyed momentum, but forced the Saints into desperate play in four different games while trying to come from behind.

Game Plans/Adjustments

New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael looks on during training camp. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY

New Orleans quarterbacks have been battered this season. Opponents have been especially effective with their inside pass rushers, usually by bringing extra blitzers at guards Andrus Peat and Cesar Ruiz. The Saints offensive staff has done little to combat this by altering the routes on play calls, calling plays to get the pass out faster, or changing blocking assignments.

Offensive game plans have not involved dynamic RB Alvin Kamara dating back to last season. At times, the Saints have looked extremely predictable on offense and have had trouble adjusting to opposing defenses all season.

In week four, New Orleans was having success pressuring Minnesota QB Kirk Cousins with just four or five rushers. Yet, with the game on the line in the fourth quarter, they brought a blitz and left Vikings WR Justin Jefferson in one-on-one coverage, albeit with Lattimore. Jefferson pulled in a 39-yard reception to set up what was the game-winning field goal.

Seattle had six plays of over 32 yards against the Saints last week. Three long pass plays were completed over the middle, taking advantage of a New Orleans defense without safeties Marcus Maye and P.J. Williams. Several other throws were completed in the intermediate areas over the middle in big moments. Defensive coaches Allen, Richard, and Nielsen did little to adjust their coverage schemes in allowing QB Geno Smith to hit four throws of over 30 yards.

Progress Shown

New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen looks on against the Carolina Panthers. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

These shortcomings are certainly not all on the coaches. It’s the player’s jobs to execute on the field. Players are the ones who fumble the ball, miss tackles or blocks, and get pushed around by the opposition. Three losses in the conference was a team effort, with players and coaches both at fault.

For those fans that thought ownership might make a mid-season coaching change after a 1-3 start — stop it. It’s not going to happen, nor should it.

Barring a complete collapse, don't expect a coaching change after the season either. Saints ownership will have the patience to give Dennis Allen more than one year, regardless of 2022 results.

There are signs of progress. It took outstanding motivation, focus, and execution to come back from a 26-10 fourth quarter deficit against Atlanta. The Saints were more physical than Tampa Bay throughout most of week two. Even in a loss, New Orleans played arguably their most complete game of the year against the Vikings.

Offensive coaches put together a solid game plan against Seattle, despite the injury absence of four starters and a depleted receiving corps. The entire team showed terrific composure in another fourth quarter comeback on a day their defense struggled.

It’s still early, and the Saints are still very much in the NFC South race despite a 2-3 record. However, coaching, motivation, and discipline are often the deciding factors when two teams of equal talent meet.

Starting with this Sunday's game against Cincinnati, the Saints play teams that qualified for the playoffs in 2021 over seven of the next eight weeks. New Orleans has the talent on the field, and the sidelines, to make a playoff run.

Most of the talent that won four straight division titles from 2017 to 2019 is still in place, with even more being added this offseason, meaning that the microscope could be squarely on Dennis Allen and his coaching staff over this pivotal eight-game stretch. 

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