After 13 grueling weeks, the Saints finally got a chance to lick their wounds with a much-needed bye, which head coach Dennis Allen likened to "hitting the reset button."
But as the team heads into a rematch with the Falcons, that statement is much more figurative than it is literal. Because there's going to be no change at the quarterback position back to the player who started and finished the thrilling Week 1 victory over the Falcons.
"Yeah," Allen said simply when asked if he'd be sticking with the veteran at quarterback. "Andy [Dalton] will start."
It's a question that's been posed of the Saints' head coach often since Dalton initially took over for an injured Winston in Week 4, but one that seems to be drawing shorter and shorter answers. The four-word response from Allen this week would seem to indicate that it wasn't really much of a question throughout the week.
Still, the head coach left a door slightly open when asked how the team would continue to evaluate its options over the final four weeks of the regular season. The Saints still retain longshot odds to potentially win a bedraggled NFC South, but not a chance that should prevent personnel decisions angled at the future.
"I think we'll evaluate everything as we finish out these last four games," Allen said. "But look, I think Andy's done some good things. I think we got to do a lot of other things around him to help him and that includes, you know, us as a coaching staff, putting everybody in better positions."
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The numbers bear that out. Dalton has completed 67% of his passes (200-299) for 2,252 yards and 15 touchdowns against 7 interceptions. But the victories have been few and far between. This year's Saints team is 3-7 in games started by Dalton and hasn't won back-to-back games at any point. However, the blame for the losses can't be placed solely at the feet of the quarterback, and that's something Allen clearly believes.
The engaging subplot for the Week 15 matchup with the Falcons is the opposite being true on the opposing sideline. Regular starter Marcus Mariota is expected to land on injured reserve with a knee issue, which means Desmond Ridder will make his NFL debut against the Saints in the Caesars Superdome. Head coach Arthur Smith described the QB decision as being "performance based," even as his team sits just a game out of the division lead and tied with the Panthers (5-8) behind the Bucs (6-7).
So mark that down as two teams hitting the reset button, but in clearly different ways.
"Guys are playing hard," Allen said. "You know, we just got to execute a little bit better at certain times."
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