New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen. Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Pressure building on Dennis Allen after Saints' 'MNF' collapse

By Cory Woodroof | Last updated 12/6/22

The New Orleans Saints look like they desperately miss Sean Payton.

While head coach Dennis Allen was never going to replace Payton fully, his first year on the sideline for New Orleans hasn't gone well. The 4-9 Saints sit at the bottom of the lowly NFC South. They're behind the Carolina Panthers at the moment, a team that fired its head coach in October.

While the Saints are 3-4 in friendly confines this season, they're an abysmal 1-5 on the road. It's hard to really compete in the NFL when you're not able to play away from home.

Allen got promoted from the team's defensive coordinator role to the top spot when Payton left this past offseason. Expectations were high for a team believed to be competitive in the NFC South. While the Saints have a lot of talent, the team has cratered and has a lot of cap space tied up in the current roster.

Monday night's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw the team blow a 16-3 lead with eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Allen came under intense fire for the way the game ended.

Dennis Allen records by year

2012: 4-12
2013: 4-12
2014: 0-4
2022: 4-9 (and counting)

At some point you can't argue against those numbers.
— Chris Rosvoglou (@RosvoglouReport) December 6, 2022

Dennis Allen might be the worst coach in a league that just hired a high school football coach in the middle of a season
— dylan sanders (@DillySanders) December 6, 2022

With the way the Saints have coached this game and made some of their decisions all year, you’d think they were tanking for a draft pick.

But they don’t have their pick. It’s just that they’re coached by Dennis Allen.
— nick wright (@getnickwright) December 6, 2022

There is no way the Saints can bring back Dennis Allen in 2023. That loss is one of the worst I've ever seen.
— Marcus Mosher (@Marcus_Mosher) December 6, 2022

Saints reporter Ross Jackson says he doesn't think the team will fire Allen, but that Monday night's game was as much of an indictment on his brief tenure as there has been.

I'm still not convinced #Saints HC Dennis Allen won't get a second year at head coach, but that game was as bad an indictment on him as there has been this season.

The bread and butter is supposed to be defense, but couldn't hold on to a 13-point lead with 5:21 left.
— Ross Jackson (@RossJacksonNOLA) December 6, 2022

The book isn't fully written on Allen in New Orleans, but it looks like it's running out of pages.

If the team can't finish strong, it's possible Allen will be a one-and-done coach with the Saints.

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