The New Orleans Saints have been in the same place all season long. They are good enough to compete in and win a bad division but not good enough to inspire confidence for a playoff run. Because New Orleans is always in contention for the NFC South, the fans have to constantly hear the dreaded “we can still win the division” line or some variation of it. That’s a true statement and is the reason the Saints are opting to not make coaching staff changes.
The desire for change comes on the offensive side. Head coach Dennis Allen leads the defense. Despite their first half struggles, it is unlikely there will be changes defensively. That doesn’t mean he should be absolved from responsibility; Allen should shoulder a lot of responsibility for the state of the offense.
As the head coach, he has sat and watched the offense be inconsistent with no real attempt to jumpstart it. If Allen wants the Saints to keep doing what they’re doing, he should also be held accountable for the results.
The likely scenario is if the offense doesn’t improve, offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael will suffer the consequences. The issue with the offense is the talent appears to be there. They have playmakers in Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Michael Thomas, Juwan Johnson, and Taysom Hill, plus an offensive line stocked with first- and second-round draft picks. And a quarterback who has seen it all in Derek Carr. A lot of struggles boil down to coaching, so replacing the play caller makes sense.
However, Allen has chosen to not switch play callers for two seasons. For that reason, his fate should be just as much tied to the offensive success as Carmichael. If things don’t pick up after the bye week, the Saints must consider wholesale changes sooner rather than later.
[lawrence-auto-related count=4]