Saints news: New Orleans in crisis mode after 4 straight losses, coach Dennis Allen defends himself, injuries mount

One crisis management approach amid four straight losses possibly becoming five, six or more is to look past it, at least that's what New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said on WWL Radio in New Orleans Monday night.

"Results matter, they do," Loomis said. "But one of the things that I think good organizations do is look beyond the results."

At least, Loomis has timing. The Saints are 2-4 going into their game against 2.5-point favorite Denver (3-3) on Thursday after a 9-8 season last year that included a 5-7 start and third straight season without playoffs. Allen was 7-10 in his first season in 2022 and is 26-50 in his head coaching career, including an 8-28 mark from 2012-14 with the Raiders.

Compounding Loomis' and Allen's problems is the fact that former Saints savior coach Sean Payton will return to New Orleans as a head coach for the first time since his final season with the Saints in 2021. Payton, whom Loomis hired before the 2006 season, tended to deliver "results." He took New Orleans to its first Super Bowl — XLIV — in the 2009-10 season and won it. He reached three NFC Championship Games in all, won seven NFC South titles, including four straight, and produced 10 winning seasons.

"What's the reason for the results, and how do you fix the reasons that keep you from winning?," Loomis asked. "It's not always about the head coach. Sometimes it is, but it's not always about that."

The Saints have lost in a myriad of ways. They led Philadelphia despite a punchless offense until 1:01 remained before falling 15-12 with two major defensive blunders. They were up at Atlanta until :02 to go and lost 26-24, even though the defense did not allow a touchdown as turnovers gave it away. Kansas City dominated them in a 26-13 victory that was worse than the final score. And the roof caved in for a 51-27 loss to Tampa Bay Sunday after the Saints led 27-24 at halftime. The defense allowed its most yards — 594 — since 2004.

"It's about a lot of different variables," Loomis said. "A lot of things are involved in winning and winning a particular game, or winning a lot during the course of a season."

The Saints have lost all three of those ways.

"We'll look at that when the time comes," Loomis said in reference to a question about a coaching change. "But the time is not right now. We have a lot of games left. We have a talented team, and we'll see where it goes from here."

This is the same man who tried to compare Allen to Hall of Fame coaches Chuck Noll, Tom Landry, Bill Belichick and Bill Walsh, who each struggled in their early years with the Steelers, Cowboys, Browns and 49ers, respectively. Loomis forgot one detail, though. Those four inherited terrible teams. The team Allen inherited just missed the 2021 playoffs at 9-8 and had gone the previous four seasons. He didn't get to coach Drew Brees, but there was still a lot there.

Loomis could be the problem. Without Payton as head coach, his record as general manager since 2002 is 46-58 with no playoff appearances. And Payton in many ways acted as the Saints GM with Loomis as more of a salary cap expert and less involved with personnel.

Dennis Allen defends himself better than his defense has

Saints head coach Dennis Allen has the 32nd-ranked defense in the NFL out of 32 teams with 395.8 yards allowed a game. That said, he tried to defend himself amid a four-game losing streak and overall inept play.

"We've got to figure it out," he said. "And that falls on me to get that done. And I've got confidence in my ability to do that. I think my track record as a defensive coach would say that."

As the Saints defensive coordinator under Sean Payton from 2015-21, Allen fielded some of the better defenses in the NFL consistently.

"We've got to do a better job to make sure our guys understand the fundamentals of it and the techniques of it," he said. "We've got to figure it out and get it fixed fast."

Asked if he had full confidence in his staff, Allen said, "Yeah, I feel confident in that. Yeah."

Saints have had a plethora of injuries

The Saints are listing 17 players on their injury report this week. With top wide receiver Chris Olave expected to miss the Denver game Thursday after suffering a concussion early in the loss to Tampa Bay Sunday and another top receiver, Rashid Shaheed, also injured, New Orleans has signed veteran wide receiver Dante Pettis to the practice squad.

Pettis, a second-round pick by the 49ers in 2018 out of Washington, has played with San Francisco, the New York Giants and Chicago Bears and has 71 catches for 984 yards and 12 TDs in his career. He missed all of the 2023 season with the Bears because of a back injury. Chicago released him over the summer.

Saints starting quarterback Derek Carr (oblique) is expected to miss his second straight game with rookie Spencer Rattler starting again. Other starters questionable for or out of the Denver game are right guard Cesar Ruiz (knee), center/guard Lucas Patrick (chest) tight end/running back Taysom Hill (lung, rib), center Erik McCoy (groin), linebacker Pete Werner (hamstring) and safety Tyrann Mathieu (forearm).