What seemed like a promising season for the New Orleans Saints back in mid-September will instead be remembered as their worst since 2005, the year the franchise struggled with a 3-13 record after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
The Saints (5-11) have lost three straight games and four out of five, being outscored 59-10 in their last two games. This is a stark contrast to the first two weeks, when they won impressively with a combined score of 91-29.
Now, they have just one more week to endure before their disappointing season comes to an end.
“There are a lot of excuses that we could make,” said veteran defensive end Cameron Jordan, referring to the injuries that have affected many of the Saints’ key offensive players and linemen. “At the end of the day, we were not good enough this year,” Jordan added. “That hurts as a player. That hurts as a fan of the game.”
Interim coach Darren Rizzi, though frustrated with the costly mistakes in recent losses, insists that the team’s effort hasn’t been lacking.
“I know that no one wants to hear that,” Rizzi said on Monday. “When I watch the game video, I’m looking for guys that aren’t giving great effort; I can’t find them.”
“We didn’t make enough plays. We didn’t execute. But it’s not an effort thing,” Rizzi continued. “We can certainly blame the injuries and we can certainly blame the circumstances, but I’ve been preaching to these guys from the beginning about accountability.”
Rizzi, who took over after Dennis Allen was fired with eight games remaining in the season, now has a 3-4 record. He had hoped to prove himself for a more permanent role.
Sunday’s 25-10 loss to the Raiders, who had only won three games all season before that, following a 34-0 loss to Green Bay, doesn’t help Rizzi’s chances for the future.
“I can’t concern myself with that right now,” Rizzi said. “I have to coach this last week, take a step back and then evaluate the whole thing. The powers that be will evaluate the whole thing, and we’ll go from there.”
