3 Saints are most to blame for another double-digit defeat and their sixth defeat in a row

Saints he actually led the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday before losing a sixth straight game for the first time in the regular season since 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. The 26-8 defeat was also the fourth straight for a New Orleans team to score double-digit touchdowns and the third straight for a team with at least three touchdowns.

However, from 10:20 of the first quarter to 14:55 of the second quarter, the Saints led 2-0. It was New Orleans’ first lead since taking a 24-23 lead against Atlanta on Sept. 29 on a one-yard touchdown run by Alvin Kamara with 60 seconds left. The Saints lost 26-24 on Younghoe Koo’s 58-yard field goal with :02 remaining.

They’ve been catching up since then, with a New Orleans sports talk show host calling coach Dennis Allen “Dead Man Walking” because he’s 2-6 after going 9-8 last year and 7-10 last year. its first season.

“Listen, we all understand that this is a results-driven business and we have to play better football,” Allen said.

At least the rivalry will get much livelier on Sunday when the Saints play 1-7 Carolina (11 a.m. Eastern, CBS), the worst record in the NFL and a 47-10 loss to New Orleans in the opener.

The Saints have right guard Cesar Ruiz back from a knee injury after missing four straight games. He also frequently led running back Alvin Kamara, who gained 67 yards on 10 carries. But the rest of the line continued to fight.

Left tackle Lucas Patrick picked up two of five sacks in the game after two catches for -20 yards in the first half. Center Connor McGovern went too far down the field and tied the game in the second quarter due to an unauthorized receiver interference call. In the second half, right back Trevor Penning was whistled for holding and left back Taliese Fuaga had a false start.

“We are a team that doesn’t focus too much on details right now,” Kamara said. “We are not a team that is very focused on execution. We are not proud of the details. There are a lot of bad things happening to us right now.”

The offensive line also allowed five sacks, while the Saints scored nine times, including eight in their first 10 possessions. New Orleans was 2 of 16 on third downs and didn’t score a touchdown in a game for the first time since a 24-15 loss to Atlanta on Nov. 26 last year, when Blake Grupe made five field goals.

“We just couldn’t create anything offensively,” Allen said.

“We go forward, then back, forward, then back,” said rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler.

Rattlesnake it dropped to 0-3 at the start for the injured Derek Carr (oblique), who is scheduled to play against Carolina on Sunday. Rattler completed 12 of 24 passes for 156 yards with three sacks. He doesn’t help himself under pressure as he seems slow and unsteady and often takes too long to release the ball. Its accuracy was also suspect.

Sophomore quarterback Jake Haener replaced Rattler in the third quarter. He wasn’t too hot either, but he seemed more decisive on faster throws. He went 9 of 17 for 122 yards.

“I felt like we had to do something to try to get on the offensive,” Allen said. “We weren’t able to move the ball and we had to do something to create some kind of spark.”

An oblique injury to quarterback Derek Carr, suffered in Week 5 against Kansas City, left the Saints playing with rookie Spencer Rattler and inexperienced second-year Jake Haener at quarterback. The Saints could have signed highly experienced backup Jameis Winston if Allen and Loomis had retained him after last season.

Winston, who performed well here and there as a Saints backup and backup from 2020-2023 after five years in Tampa Bay, wanted to stay in New Orleans. But Allen never thought much of Winston. He also didn’t like the fact that Winston changed his decision from taking a knee during last season’s finale against Atlanta to a touchdown decision. However, Winston’s teammates certainly enjoyed it, and many still believe that was when Allen lost the locker room. Next thing you know, Winston is Cleveland Brown.

And on Sunday, Winston started his first game in two years for the injured Deshaun Watson and brilliantly completed 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in a 29-24 loss to Baltimore. All three TD passes of 23, 22 and 38 yards gave Cleveland the lead – 13-10 in the third, 20-17 in the third and 29-24 with 59 seconds left.

He also gave an impassioned pre-game speech to his teammates, asking the then 1-6 team to believe.

“He was very confident in the group,” Browns linebacker Joel Bitonio said. “He was ready to go. He has a lot of energy. But that’s how he’s been since he’s been here.”

The Saints could certainly use some of that energy and confidence.