Dennis Allen felt hopeful when the New Orleans Saints began the season with two wins.
However, a seven-game losing streak, including a 23-22 loss to the struggling Carolina Panthers on Sunday, has him facing questions about his job safety.
Allen’s first season ended with a 7-10 record, and he improved to 9-8 last year. But now, with the Saints on track for a third consecutive year without making the playoffs during his time as coach, he feels the pressure increasing in New Orleans.
“I just think we’ve got to be better,” Allen said when asked about his job situation. When he was questioned about whether he thinks he’s doing his job well, Allen replied, “obviously, when you’re not winning, it’s hard to say you are. I’ve got to be better for our guys.
Here’s what I’ll say: I’m going to keep coming in every day and fighting my (butt) off just like I’ve done since I’ve been here.” Allen and the Saints hoped that quarterback Derek Carr’s return after missing three games would help them turn things around.
Instead, they lost to the Panthers (2-7), a team they had beaten 47-10 in Week 1. Carr had thrown for 200 yards and three touchdowns in that first game.
“We’ve got good leadership in the room,” Allen said. “We’ve got to do a better job playing, coaching and, hopefully, getting some guys healthy. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be a challenge. But going through adversity like this reveals character. The only option is to stand up and fight.”
Allen noted that Carr looked “rusty” in his return and the Saints couldn’t finish the game despite leading 22-17 in the fourth quarter. When they needed to get into field goal range in the last 2:18 to win, Carr’s fourth-and-4 pass to Cedrick Wilson was broken up, ending their chances.
“I didn’t see a lot of issues throughout the week in practice,” Allen said. “But obviously, games are different than practice. Our plan was to come in here and run the football. And we were able to do that. I don’t think we were able to get quite as much done in the passing game.”
Before Sunday, teams that had outgained their opponents by more than 150 yards, rushed for over 150 yards, and won the turnover battle had a perfect record of 275-0 over the last 20 seasons, according to ESPN. Make that 275-1.
The Saints wasted a great performance from Alvin Kamara, who rushed 29 times for 155 yards and caught six passes for 60 yards. Carr said players were upset and “baffled” after the loss.
“We should be winning these football games and we’re not,” Carr said. “For us, it’s hard to swallow and it’s hard to deal with. We have to keep picking each other up and keep moving forward. This one hurt. If I was our fans, I’d be (upset) right now, because we are too.”
Regarding Allen’s job security, Carr stated that it is beyond his control.
“My job is to play quarterback, take care of the football and try to score touchdowns and put us in position to win football games,” Carr said. “The one thing I’ve learned when that stuff happens is if you don’t have a tight group, it can go south real quick. You never as players want that to happen.”
Carr also expressed his feelings about Allen’s uncertain future, saying, “to even think that could happen sucks. It’s the sucky part of this business and the sucky part of where we are right now.”
