By Ross Jackson
CHARLOTTE, NC – It could end up being the most consequential loss of the New Orleans Saints’ season, their 23-22 stinker at the Carolina Panthers. This was a game that New Orleans needed to win. Not because a win would have changed anyone’s mind, but because a loss might change everything else. And now the Saints are staring in the eyes of that very reality after dropping their seventh-straight game in a season for the first time since 1999.
What went wrong? Throw a dart. Missed tackles surrendered big plays. Ten penalties surrendered 109 yards. Play calling in pivotal moments looked either transparent to the Panthers’ defense or ineffective. Those are just some of the issues as the team continues its wack-a-mole of ugly elements that amount to disappointing losses.
This was supposed to be the game that stopped the leak. Starting quarterback Derek Carr returned to the lineup. The offense was as healthy as it has been in some time. The Panthers came into the game as the worst team in the league.
This is rock bottom for the Saints. And the team knows that it’s rock bottom for its fanbase as well.
“I’m hurting right now,” head coach Dennis Allen said in his solemn post-game presser. “Hurting for our city, hurting for our organization and hurting for those guys in that locker room. I know they put their heart and soul into it and to keep coming out on the negative end is quite challenging.”
The negative end of things is certainly a light way to put it. The Saints have gone from being among the conversation at the bottom of the NFL to being perhaps the strongest contender for the conversation, even after an electrifying two-win start.
The fast start to the season makes things feel even worse for the Saints. The amount of potential they showed during those wins was more than enough to at least internally hold out some hope that they could turn things back around this season. Now, players are on social media saying that the goal is now simply “to finish about .500” after losing the “Cottonelle DooDoo Bowl.”
Of course, defensive tackle Khalen Saunders (who made those remarks) is providing a comedic outlook to the otherwise weighty implications that could come with the team’s latest loss. But it is still representative of a team whose reality has shifted, and perhaps set in.
The reality is of a team that must be looking ahead to its future options at this point. Many eyes will be on Allen in particular over the coming days. Many fans and analysts are either calling for his firing or at least mused the warrant for it. Should New Orleans make such a choice, they would certainly be justified. The Saints became the first in 20 years to lose a game in which the team outgained their opponent by at least 150 yards and won the turnover battle. Before then, teams were 275-0.
That’s an enormous blemish on the team which established a high standard over their 2006 to 2021 golden era. Instead of replicating the gold standard of that era, the 2024 Saints are now put in the same class as their abysmal 3-and-13 1999 team which is the last to lose seven games in a row.
The Saints must embrace where and what they are: a team ready for a hard but necessary reset. How they go about it will remain to be seen. But the head coach, their aging roster and beyond all must be examined at this point. Accountability will quickly be the only way to establish credibility with a growingly frustrated and adversarial fanbase. The NFL is a business. And sometimes business decisions hurt, but New Orleans is running out of time and options to show that not meeting their previously prestigious standard is not acceptable. That is, if that is truly the case.
It seems unlikely that any coaching or organizational changes will happen in-season, though they would have the leeway to go about them should they choose. Instead, the off-season is typically the time we have seen the franchise make those larger moves. But the roster could be the first to feel the brunt of the club’s dying hopes.
Teams are already reportedly calling with the interest in trading for proven veterans like cornerback Marshon Lattimore. Edge defender Chase Young has been involved in the trade deadline rumor mill as well. That deadline is fast-approaching on Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. ET. Should the Saints quickly turn to sellers in order to stockpile draft capital, at least it will show a commitment to bettering their future outlook in multiple ways. If done appropriately, well-returned moves could help their salary cap situation (they are currently $62 million over for 2025) and set them up for an influx of young talent.
Decisions like this are not easy for any NFL team. Sentimentality and loyalty play a real role in these conversations. But nothing forces a club out of its comfort zone like losing. Unfortunately, the Saints have adopted a habit of doing just that.
Where the team goes from here must be geared towards moving on to its next iteration. The timeline on which those moves happen will be a mystery for now. But once those moves begin–and make no mistake about it, they should indeed make these kinds of moves–they will be loud and they will be heartbreaking for some. But they most certainly will be necessary.
