Halloween Horror: Saints Limp Into November After Digging Themselves Another Big Hole

After an October worthy of a horror movie, the Saints look to overcome a nightmare recent history to right their season

New Orleans Saints fans get into the Halloween spirit / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

Like a tainted apple, candy corn, or yet another Halloween or Friday the 13th remake, the New Orleans Saints have ruined Halloween. Unlike the ghouls, ghosts, and spooky monsters of the season, these Saints have created their own tricks and terrors.

New Orleans came out of the gate stronger than even their most die-hard supporters could have imagined. They demolished the Carolina Panthers and Dallas Cowboys by a combined score of 91-29 to start 2-0. As the fall leaves started to turn, so did the fortunes of the team.

Late fourth quarter miscues cost the Saints two winnable games in the final minute against Philadelphia and Atlanta. Those losses dropped the Saints to 2-2 to close out September. A turn of the calendar to October brought even more troubles for the Saints.

October Voodoo

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Sean Tucker (44) breaks a tackle attempt by New Orleans Saints linebacker Demario Davis (56) / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Like a zombie apocalypse, injuries ran rampant through the New Orleans roster in October.

Starting before the end of September, the Saints lost Derek Carr, Taysom Hill, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Lucas Patrick, Demario Davis, Pete Werner, Paulson Adebo, and Will Harris for periods of time. Shaheed and Adebo are out for the year, while McCoy remains on injured reserve.

A skeleton crew on offense and mostly awful defense made the Saints look like helpless victims in a horror movie. New Orleans lost all four of their October outings. They averaged a meager 14.5 points over those four games while giving up a horrifying average 34 points.

Similar to the inept leadership figures in horror movies, New Orleans coaches have been equally clueless to stop the plummeting momentum. The Saints are consistently out-coached week after week. Yet, the team's front office refuses to consider changes, stubbornly believing that everything is fine as the world is crumbling around.

The Curse of Dennis Allen and Sean Payton

Dec 21, 2015; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton talks to defensive coordinator Dennis Allen / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

At one time, New Orleans terrorized the rest of the NFL through Halloween until at least Thanksgiving. In 15 years under Sean Payton, the Saints were 46-15 during the month of October, a winning percentage of .754. Even during the worst four years of the Drew Brees/Sean Payton era (2012, '14, '15, and '16) the Saints went 11-4 in October, a winning percentage of .733.

Between 2011 and 2021, New Orleans was 33-8 during the month of October. Fall and Halloween were especially good between 2014 and 2021. The Saints were 26-4 in October over that span, including an incredible 20-2 between 2016 and 2021.

To say that Dennis Allen's Saints have struggled in October is like saying that Michael Myers had a slight temper problem. Including this season, New Orleans has a nightmare record of 4-10 in October under Allen.

What this basically means is that the Saints often took control of the NFC South while under Payton. At the very least, they positioned themselves very well for a playoff run. In three years under Allen, New Orleans has put themselves in a position where they need outside help just to climb back into a postseason chance before Thanksgiving even approaches.

To add insult to injury, Sean Payton came back to New Orleans this October and basically played the role of Freddy Krueger. In front of their home crowd in a prime-time Thursday night game, Payton's Denver Broncos dismantled the Saints by a 33-10 score.

Thanksgiving Salvation?

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) throws a pass against the Atlanta Falcons / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Now at 2-6 and riding a six-game losing streak, New Orleans has two crucial games against NFC South opponents Carolina and Atlanta in back-to-back weeks. Any slim hope they have at salvaging their season must start with winning both games.

Mathematically, New Orleans can at least climb back into the division race with a sweep of those two games and a little outside help. They've definitely dug their own grave, but are also getting some of their players healthy.

Counting on this to happen could be a far different fairytale. Before this season's nightmare, the Saints have a horrific 6-15 under Dennis Allen between weeks 3 and 13, worsening to 6-21 with this year's disaster.

New Orleans must first just simply get a win this Sunday against the 1-7 Carolina Panthers. They hope to put this year's October horror movie behind them. To do so, they'll also need to reverse their own struggling performance on the field and overcome their recent nightmare history.