Does Dennis Allen have a type? Of the top five active quarterbacks in career pick-sixes (interceptions returned for touchdowns), three of them have started games for the New Orleans Saints at quarterback since Allen took over as head coach.
As noted by Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan, Andy Dalton ranks second among active passers with 18 pick-sixes in 169 games. Derek Carr is right behind him with 16 of them in 153 games. Jameis Winston rounds out the top-five with a dozen in 90 games.
Of course they aren’t alone; Kirk Cousins is also in the mix (14 in 150 games) and Matthew Stafford leads everyone with 30 of them in 201 games.
But it’s concerning that so many Saints quarterbacks rank high in this stat since Allen was promoted to head coach. He made the decision to sign Dalton in free agency last year and followed up by starting him for most of the season after Jameis Winston was injured and benched. It was Allen’s choice to recruit Carr to New Orleans this offseason, too.
Defenders typically don’t return an interception all the way to the end zone for a score, so this is more a ball security problem than anything. Carr has a career interceptions rate of 2%, but he’s whittled it down to 1.3% with the Saints this season. That doesn’t excuse his horrible ball placement on an interception against the Atlanta Falcons last week that was returned for a win-sealing touchdown. But we’ve got to acknowledge how critical his turnovers have been when they have occurred. Carr has thrown two pick-sixes this season against Atlanta and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
How does that compare to Dalton and Winston? Last year, Dalton threw an interception on 2.4% of his passes, which is near his career average (2.6%). And like Carr, his mistakes happened at critical times — just look at his two pick-sixes thrown against the Arizona Cardinals in the last two minutes before halftime.
As for Winston: his issues protecting the ball are well-documented, and his performance with the Saints the last two years speaks for itself. His career interceptions rate is 3.4% and he’s been picked off on 4.3% and a staggering 7.1% of his passes in the years since Sean Payton left the team. He’s only attempted 42 throws this year but he’s thrown more interceptions (3) than touchdowns (2) when asked to step in for Carr. He threw a pick-six against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last season, too.
Allen’s choices of quarterbacks haven’t exactly meshed with the philosophy of a head coach who wants to run a conservative, run-first offense that can protect the ball and settle for field goals while trusting its defense to win games. Whether they’re not clutch or just unlucky, the Saints quarterbacks — especially Carr, the current unquestioned starter — must play better.
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