Credit where it’s due: Darren Rizzi won’t hesitate to take the blame when he’s at fault. The New Orleans Saints’ interim head coach owned up to a couple of strange timeouts his team called in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams, explaining that they had trouble substituting the right players into the game for the right situations.
The first timeout occurred just minutes into the game. The issue popped up again later, but this time on defense, not offense. In both instances Rizzi said they had just ten players on the field. That kind of misalignment could lead to disaster.
So what’s to be done? We’ve heard Saints head coaches blame themselves before and accept accountability, but if those words don’t precede actions then nothing changes. That’s what ultimately cost Dennis Allen his job, and if Rizzi is going to be long for New Orleans, he must follow through. Extra time spent in practice and cleaner lines of communication are going to be key through these last five weeks if his team wants to keep competing when the playoffs kick off in January.
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