Saints’ terrible loss to Panthers could cost Allen his job | Saints

You can’t lose against the Carolina Panthers.

You just can’t do it.

Not when you’ve lost six games in a row.

Not when you finally bring back your starting quarterback.

Not when your head coach’s job is on the line.

No matter how many injuries you suffer. No matter how much adversity you experience. You just can’t lose to the worst team in the NFL.

Unless, of course, you’re the worst team.

As colleague Rod Walker pointed out, it’s hard to argue that the Saints aren’t the worst right now after their embarrassing, unimaginable 23-22 loss on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

This game absolutely had to be won. For the saints. And for their ailing head coach Dennis Allen.

And they lost it.

Considering the opponent and the circumstances, it will be remembered as one of the worst defeats in franchise history. The Panthers went 1-7 and ranked near the bottom of the league in almost every major statistical category. They had lost their last five games by an average margin of 20 points.

And the Saints somehow lost to them after winning the turnover battle by rushing for nearly 200 yards (197) more than the Panthers and outscoring them 427-245 total yards.

In the last two decades, no NFL team had ever lost a game with this statistic. They were 275-0.

Now they are 275-1.

If you’re looking for the low point of Allen’s three-year tenure, this is it.

The same ruthless decisions and inexplicable mistakes that the Saints had made during their six-game losing streak before the game undermined them in the process: penalties, missed tackles, lost passes, questionable decisions and poor, confusing time management.

The Saints have suffered a lot of ugly and embarrassing losses over the years, and this is one of the worst of them.

Coincidentally, it was an ugly 19-7 loss to the Panthers in Carolina that inspired Jim Mora’s infamous postgame “Diddly Poo” rant. Mora resigned the next day.

Allen did not express a similar tone in his postgame press conference on Sunday. Instead, he vowed to “continue to show up every day and work my ass off like I did every single day I was here.”

He added: “I’m feeling bad right now. It hurts our city, it hurts our organization, it hurts the guys in this locker room.”

As an organization, the Saints have not made a midseason head coaching change since 1980, when owner John Mecom fired Dick Nolan for 12 games during a disastrous 1-15 season. Former owner Tom Benson even gave Mike Ditka and Jim Haslett full seasons, even though they went 3-13 in their final seasons.

Saints owner Gayle Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis were fiercely loyal to Allen and supported him during his difficult tenure. Allen embodies the qualities and characteristics they value in the organization. He is smart, tough, loyal and almost extremely honest. He is a good person. They desperately want him to succeed.

And even during the last bad loss, Allen’s players played hard and showed an admirable spirit of camaraderie. The team didn’t give up.

Loomis has preached patience and compared Allen’s current slide to Sean Payton’s shaky three-year streak of 7-9 campaigns from 2014 to 2016. But the situations are not remotely comparable. Payton had skins on the wall. He had won a Super Bowl and led the Saints to four more playoff appearances.

The highlight of Allen’s career was the 9-8 mark last year. His record with the Saints is now 18-25. His career mark is 26-53, which is among the worst in NFL history.

Benson and Loomis must make a difficult decision. In the past, they have avoided midseason coaching changes. Such moves rarely work, and this one would be unprecedented for the current brain trust.

But these are unprecedented times for the Saints.

The season has fallen apart and could get worse before it gets better. The upcoming three-game homestand against the Falcons, Browns and Rams could get ugly. It would be a surprise if not.

And clearly, despite his best efforts and admirable commitment to the organization, what Allen is doing isn’t working.

It’s impossible to look past the results.