By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — With a victory against the most bitter rivals, the New Orleans Saints are back in the win column for the first time since September 15. After a winless October, New Orleans toppled the Atlanta Falcons with a fight the team had not displayed all year. A fight that was inspired by its leadership.
Earlier in the week, the Saints shocked many by firing their former head coach, Dennis Allen. It was only a surprise because the organization, which had not fired a head coach in-season since the 1980’s, actually did it. It was clear the move had to be made and now in hindsight, even more so.
Interim Head Coach Darren Rizzi described himself as a fighter during his introductory media availability in his new role. “I grew up a little bit of a fighter,” he said. “I’ve really never been handed anything.”
Rizzi’s fighter mentality shined through his players on Sunday during a game where they didn’t get all of the breaks of a perfectly executed match. Missed tackles, leaky run defense and five three-and-outs on the final six possessions were not enough to knock his team off of the winner’s pedestal. It was the resilient win the Saints of old used to capture and close out and close out often, but certainly not the Saints of recent past.
The New Jersey native promised two things of his team and both of which came to fruition on Sunday. “I can’t promise a lot,” Rizzi said. “I can promise passion. I can promise fight. And I can tell you that the team is going to go out there every Sunday and that’s going to be clear. We’re going to have a team that’s full of passion and a team that’s full of fighters. That I can promise you.”
The team delivered.
Aggression was an early tone-setter. Rizzi and the Saints’ offense went for it on a fourth-and-1 in the first quarter while in Atlanta territory and came up short. But in speaking with several players in the locker room, turning the ball over on downs wasn’t the takeaway. Rizzi’s trust in the offense was.
“That made us want to play harder,” one player told LouisianSports.Net. It moved the needle. Rizzi had said and done all the right things leading up to the game. But to show that confidence in the team on the field was a different story.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara, the franchise’s new all-time rushing yards leader, was another ton-setting presence throughout the week. Kamara was made a team captain on Saturday, just before game day. Kamara has been a standard-bearer in the locker room for some time, so to see him elevated by his head coach was a combination of a no-brainer and a much needed move. Kamara spoke after the game about what was different for the team, and unsurprisingly he ends up identifying many of the same qualities Rizzi brought to the table.
“I think everybody was accountable to each other,” the running back said. “And we haven’t had that. It hasn’t been there. Like I’ve been saying these last couple weeks. We all want to win. The recipe, it was just missing something. And I feel like we got that thing.”
Kamara praised the coach for his message to the team, one that included what needed to be done to win. That message, the mentality that comes with it and the resilience that the team showed on Sunday all aligned. That’s no mistake.
There are still seven games left in the season. For all we know, this may be the last win of the year for the Saints. So there’s no sense in buying a full turnaround for the team. But it doesn’t sound like that’s what they are selling either. This sounds like a roster and coaches that are aware that there’s a lot to improve and more than a few things they can do better.
But somehow, under Rizzi’s leadership, they seem more equipped to face those needed improvements than they have been in the recent past. If there was ever a time to look beyond the final score, this may be it. The players are bought in, they’re fighting, and for the first time in weeks; they’re winning.
