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The Saints fire their coach amid the NFL's worst losing streak

Posted on by Kennedy
The Saints fire their coach amid the NFL's worst losing streak

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The New Orleans Saints are taking a significant step after losing their second straight game.

The team fires head coach Dennis Allen after the team is off to a 2-7 start following an NFL-worst seven-game losing streak.

Associate head coach and special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi has been named interim head coach.

Mickey Loomis, the Saints' executive vice president and general manager, cited “an avalanche of injuries” as a major reason for the team's struggles so far this season. New Orleans currently has 10 players on injured reserve, including wide receiver Rashid Shaheed, center Erik McCoy and cornerback Paulson Adebo. Quarterback Derek Carr also missed three starts due to an oblique injury, and top wide receiver Chris Olave suffered his second concussion of the season on Sunday.

“DA never offered excuses, he fought every day for this organization and this team and that is what makes today disappointing,” Loomis said in a statement. “Dennis has been an integral part of the success of this organization for nearly twenty years. We will miss him.”

Allen is the second NFL coach to be fired this season, after the New York Jets fired Robert Saleh in October.

Allen, who was in his third year with the Saints, finishes with an 18-25 record with the organization. He has an overall career record of 26-53 after leading the then-Oakland Raiders in 2012-14.

After serving as a defensive assistant for the organization for 12 years in two separate stints, Allen took over the Saints' top job in 2022 following the departure of longtime coach Sean Payton. While the team missed the playoffs in its first two seasons, the front office remained committed to keeping the core of the roster in place and pushing salary cap space into the future to retain key veterans.

After scoring a total of 91 points en route to a 2-0 opening score under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, New Orleans faltered as the team continued to flounder. On Sunday, the Saints lost 23-22 to the Carolina Panthers, who had previously only won one game and lost 47-10 to New Orleans in their opening game.

This story has been updated with new information.

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