FLOWERY BRANCH – This season started with so much promise for the Saints.
They blasted the Panthers, 47-10, and then steamrolled the Cowboys, 44-19.
But since, things have turned into a dumpster fire. They have dropped seven in a row, including a 26-24 tilt to the Falcons on Sept. 29, and coach Dennis Allen was fired on Monday.
The Saints (2-7), under the direction of interim head coach Darren Rizzi, formerly the special teams coordinator, will host the Falcons (6-3) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Caesars Superdome.
Allen went 18-25 without a playoff appearance after taking over in 2022 for Sean Payton, the only coach to guide the Saints to a Super Bowl title.
The Saints are mired in the longest streak since the 1999 season.
The Falcons are not expecting the Saints to change much on the offensive side of the ball. Allen was their former defensive coordinator and called the defense.
“On offense, it’ll be (the) same coordinator doing a lot of similar things that they’ve done,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “Got a lot of respect for the defensive coordinator in Joe Woods. I’m assuming he’s going to probably call it at this point with Dennis Allen moving on.”
Quarterback Derek Carr returned from strained oblique injury that caused him to miss three games. Wide receiver Chris Olave suffered a concussion in the 23-22 loss to the Panthers.
Defensive end Cam Jordan, 35, has started all nine games, but his playing time has been reduced. He doesn’t have a sack this season.
Rizzi is a longtime NFL assistant coach who’s been in the league since 2009 with the Dolphins and Saints. He was the head coach at New Haven (2002-07) and Rhode Island (2008) before making the jump to the NFL.
Morris is familiar with the role of the interim head coach. He took over for Dan Quinn after the Falcons started the 2020 season 0-5. Morris had Quinn speak to the team in the first virtual meeting.
The disgruntled Falcons went to Minnesota and blasted the Vikings 40-23 in the first game without the popular Quinn.
“Rizzi is going to definitely go in there and do what we did in ‘20 and try to apply his personality to what they’ve currently been doing,” Morris said. “You know, when a coach gets fired in that situation, everything they were doing is not bad.”
Under Morris, the Falcons won three of the next five games before closing out the season with five straight losses. He posted a 4-7 mark as the interim coach.
The Saints went 9-8 last season and lost the division title – and a playoff berth – on a tiebreaker. Allen hired Klint Kubiak to come in a spruce up the offense with the goal of returning to the playoffs.
However, the defense was getting old and the Saints have been hit with injuries.
“Everything Dennis Allen wanted to do or try to move forward wasn’t terrible,” Morris said. “It’s just about you applying your message and getting those guys to go out there and play for you.”
The Falcons are expecting a major rumble from the Saints under the new direction.
“We know how well coached and good of a coach Rizzi is and some of the things he can do,” Morris said. “So, we better show up ready to go because we know what it looks like from the other side. So, we’ve got to prepare for that.”
In that first game after Quinn was fired, the Falcons opened up a 23-0 lead on quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Vikings before they knew what hit them. It was 30-7 heading into the fourth quarter before Cousins tossed a couple late TDs to make the score more respectable.
This will be the 111th regular-season meeting between the Falcons and Saints. The series is tied, 55-55.
The Saints took a 24-23 lead with 1:04 left in the game. The Falcons needed a 30-yard defensive pass interference penalty and a 58-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo at the buzzer to pull out the victory.
The Falcons believe that have grown since that first meeting. Safety Justin Simmons pointed to the three-and-out the defense had to start the third quarter against the Cowboys and how the offense went and scored a touchdown.
“That’s good complementary football,” Simmons said. “Those are the things we can lean on, learn on and grow from and continue to just keep getting better. That’s complete football right there. Little things like that, that I think are great. We’ll look at the negatives and (eliminate) those and we’ll get ready for New Orleans.”
Allen, who was born in Atlanta, is the son of former Falcons linebacker Grady Allen (1968-72). He started his NFL coaching career with the Falcons as a defensive quality-control assistant for Dan Reeves in 2002.
Allen, who was the Raiders head coach from 2012-14, was with the Saints from 2006-10 and returned from 2015-21 as the defensive coordinator.
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