The New Orleans Saints Under Fire: Why Skepticism and Outside Noise is Roaring!

The Saints keep losing, and they're losing a lot more than games at this point.

Oct 27, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen watches game action against the Los Angeles Chargers during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Saints aren't expected to be sellers when the NFL's trade deadline hits next Tuesday, and head coach Dennis Allen has made that clear for two weeks in a row. New Orleans is operating with the belief that they can solve everything that is going on in-house. This is the same thing that's been said before, and the problem is it's not being solved. Honestly, it feels like it's getting worse, and that's why there even more skeptics than normal.

New Orleans has lost six straight games, and now they're about enter the month of November behind the eight ball, yet again. For anyone that's wondering, the Saints are just 9-15 in September and October under Dennis Allen. Naturally, this is their worst stretch too, because they at least were 4-4 at this point last season.

There's a lot of finger pointing going on outside of the building on who's to blame here, and while there are certain angles you can take, the reality is that the Saints have already said they don't care about the outside opinions.

Allen said on WWL Radio Monday evening, "I don't think we look at things the same way as maybe people outside our building do. We're not focused on looking in the rearview mirror on what happened in the past. We're focused on what are the things we can control, what are the things we can change, and that starts this week with going to Carolina and getting a win."

Here's the problem with that. When you say certain things that you aren't delivering on that you stated you were going to, then where's the actual accountability? What else is there if the results aren't there? How can a team who says they know the standard but aren't meeting the standard feel like they're meeting a specific standard that only they can define?

At the end of last season, both Dennis Allen and Mickey Loomis met with the media for their customary pressers, and here's a few reminders of what was said during that.

• "I’ve got to hold our guys to a standard to do the things necessary to win, and I've probably let that slip a little bit over the last few years and we're going to get that fixed." -Mickey Loomis
• Allen believed the Saints were close, citing improvement year over year. "I do think we're progressing in the right way." However, he said the defense wasn't as dominant as they were in previous years.
• Loomis was excited about the potential for the Saints for 2024, but said that they ultimately have to go out and do it. He also said that they have to win the fans back, bringing up the importance of actions speaking louder than words. Loomis said: "You have to win. You have to perform well." He added that if the team is not meeting the bar, "That's on us." He also said that if he were in the stands some, he would have booed a couple of times."

So here we are. The Saints are seemingly in turmoil, drawing comparisons to the 2005 squad. Is that what they've been reduced to?

The Saints did all their normal offseason work of defying the salary cap to prove the critics wrong, but the problem is the critcism is actually valid when you aren't performing. What good is it to operate in this way when you don't get the results? What point does it serve to have players commit to the organization to continuing and finishing out their careers on a low note? They don't deserve that. Cam Jordan doesn't deserve to go out a loser. Neither does Demario Davis or Tyrann Mathieu. Now you can add Alvin Kamara to that list after his two-year extension.

The goal posts continue to move too. The injuries have obviously been plentiful, and it feels like it's shifted more to be an excuse as to why they're not doing well. Isn't that why you are supposed to draft well, get the right depth and develop? Injuries happen and they're part of the game. You can't just say getting one or two particular players back will help salvage a season. That's a ludicrous way of thinking. It's as if they're operating like they're actually the team who is 2-0 instead of the team who is 2-6 when the results say otherwise.

What if this team loses to the Panthers? How can you not make drastic changes? Even if they do beat the worst team in the league, you might get thrashed by the NFC South division leader the following week. There's no moral victory here. You can also bet there won't be as much fan support when they return to the Superdome. No one can blame them either, because like what has been said, you have to win and perform well, and that's not happening at all.

This has certainly been the lowest point for any Saints team in almost two decades. At least you knew when the team started in the hole in the 7-9 seasons they had Drew Brees and Sean Payton. There's not much optimism here on anything actually changing, and there's also not much evidence to suggest it either.