Let me be as blunt as I possibly can.  Right now, the New Orleans Saints are a BAD football team.  Not an alright football team.  Not an average football team.  A straight up, bottom-tier football team.  To be honest, at first glance it doesn’t make sense.  This is and has been one of the most loaded rosters in the NFL for years.  Of course, the weakest position group on the team is the most important, quarterback. But all we need from the position is average quarterback play, and this roster should be able to win 8 or 9 games just based off talent. 

However, to this point, we’ve struggled to even get average quarterback play.  On top of that, we’ve dealt with injuries to key players like Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Marcus Maye, Paulson Adebo, Adrus Peat, and Jameis Winston.  While I think the struggles at quarterback and injuries have contributed to the 1-3 start, they aren’t the biggest issues, in my opinion.  What’s the biggest issue then?  Well, the Saints are a poorly coached football team.

You might place the blame on bad quarterback play or lack of pass rush or some other lacking area, but from my perspective, poor coaching in the biggest issue for this team.  From the head coach to the offensive coordinator, to special team’s coaches, we’ve seen a poorly coached team all around.  Week after week, we see the Saints shoot themselves in the foot with stupid penalties, untimely fumbles, or an awful mental lapse. It seems like every time we get momentum, we find a way to cause another self-inflicted wound. For example, we’re driving down the field against the Bucs and Mark Ingram fumbles in the red zone.  Or, how about the seemingly countless false starts to put ourselves in 2^nd or 3^rd and long situations?  Or, how about today against the Vikings when the defense makes a stop, but special teams allow the Vikings to convert a fake punt?  Again, just poor coaching all around.

The most concerning area to me are the penalties.  It’s hard to get the offense going, regardless of who is at quarterback, when you’re constantly playing behind the sticks.  You can’t get in a rhythm with your play calling when you’re consistently in those positions.  An undisciplined team is a direct result of a poorly run program by the head coach.  Why are the penalties the most concerning to me over all other areas? Because undisciplined teams are a pattern with Dennis Allen run football teams. 

As everyone knows, Dennis Allen had a previous head coaching stint with the Raiders from 2012-2014 that didn’t go so well.  As it stands right now, the Saints are the 2^nd most penalized team on a per game basis with 8 per game through 4 weeks.  What is concerning to me, is that I don’t know that the issue will ever get fixed under Dennis Allen, because teams under his leadership have always been undisciplined.

In 2012, the Raiders were the 6^th most penalized team with 6.8 penalties per game.  2013 was even worse with the Raiders ending the season as the 4^th most penalized team with 7.3 penalties per game.  They again had 7.3 penalties per game in Dennis Allen’s final season as head coach in 2014 and finished as the 9^thmost penalized team.  So, when we look at those numbers, it’s reasonable to be concerned that we won’t see improvement this year or maybe even any year in the future. 

I want to be clear; I’m not calling for Dennis Allen to be fired already or anything like that.  However, if he can’t run a disciplined program in his second attempt as a head coach, then he shouldn’t be a head coach for long.  And, if he doesn’t get this team to stop hurting themselves immediately, the season will be over quickly. 

I’m not completely giving up hope on the season yet, because as I mentioned earlier, this roster is incredibly talented.  They very well could turn things around and go on a run.  Dennis Allen has at least kept his defense on par with previous seasons, and we at least saw improvements from the pass rush and the offense today.  So, maybe there’s still some reason for hope.  But Dennis Allen and the rest of his staff need to get it together quickly, because they are running out time.

*All stats courtesy of teamrankings.com*

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