What was with the New Orleans Saints timeouts before halftime in Thursday night’s loss to the Denver Broncos? It was an odd move when the team was down by multiple scores and set up deep in their own territory with just 11 seconds remaining, and it led to some irritation both from fans in attendance and the broadcast booth; Amazon Prime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels grumbled something about having to wait a little longer to check the catering spread.
And according to Saints head coach Dennis Allen, it was offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak who signaled for a timeout.
“He got a little excited over there on the sideline,” Allen said Friday, via Nola.com’s Rod Walker. “He and I discussed that. That won’t be a problem moving forward.”
It was an odd moment, complete with the broadcast cameras picking up Spencer Rattler mouthing, “What are we doing?” on his way back to the sideline between plays. Kubiak was trying to will the offense into putting some points on the board before halftime, having fallen to a 16-3 deficit after a Wil Lutz field goal on the previous drive.
But after Rattler gained a single yard on his first pass to Alvin Kamara followed by a 5-yard pickup on his next checkdown, everyone was ready to just go into the locker room, catch their breath, and pick up where they left off. The Saints were set to receive the opening kickoff for the second time after the break anyway.
But according to Section 5, Article 1 of the 2024 NFL Rulebook, assistant coaches like Kubiak are not supposed to be able to signal a timeout. Not that it stops them from trying:
The Referee shall suspend play while the ball is dead and declare a charged team timeout upon the request for a timeout by the head coach or any player (not a substitute) to any official. If an assistant coach signals for a timeout and it is inadvertently granted, the timeout will stand.
So they’ll need to be more clear about who can request those timeouts in the future, as Allen said. But that doesn’t mean he should be throwing his play caller under the bus. Allen didn’t have to name anyone, especially since he could’ve defended his coach and avoided an admission about violating NFL rules in the process, but he chose to anyway. The Saints are in a bad spot during their five-game losing streak and what looks to be their fourth year out of the playoffs. Allen might be feeling the pressure.
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