The New Orleans Saints' 2024 season is back from the dead, or at least it's starting to feel that way.
After a 7-game losing streak that matched the team's longest in a quarter century and the firing of head coach Dennis Allen, the Saints have reeled off back-to-back wins. The team is responding positively to new interim coach Darren Rizzi, with a defense that's now shut out opponents in the 4th quarter of back-to-back games after a series of blown leads during the losing streak.
The Saints now sit at 4-7 and have a long way to go before they really start to be taken seriously in any kind of playoff conversation, but it's clear they've started to raise some eyebrows around the NFL landscape during their resurgence.
Let's take a stroll around what some local and national folks are saying this week:
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Jeff Duncan of NOLA dot com is keeping it simple: You don't have to believe in it yet, but doubt Darren Rizzi at your own risk (read more here).
"Rizzi has pushed all the right buttons so far, and for at least a couple of more weeks, made everyone forget the dystopian dysfunction of the Dennis Allen era," Duncan writes.
"It’s all sunshine and rainbows right now with the Rizz."
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But it's not all about the head coach, with NOLA dot com's Rod Walker pointing to quarterback Derek Carr putting down two of his best games of the season during the short-lived Rizzi Ball era. (Read more here) It shouldn't be overlooked even as Taysom Hill exploded for 200 all-purpose yards and three rushing touchdowns in the win over the Browns this week.
"With no Chris Olave and no Rashid Shaheed, these were supposed to be tough times for Carr. They haven't been," Walker writes, "In fact, he’s played some of his best football all season these past two games."
Demario Davis even went so far as to liken Carr's play to former NBA point guard Rajon Rondo with the way he's distributing the ball to playmakers despite not having his top two WRs in Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, both of whom are on IR. Carr has completed 71% of his passes for 517 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions while completing passes to eight different receivers.
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But how about ESPN's Pat McAfee, never a stranger to a strong take about a four-win team? Count him in the Rizzi fanclub,
“This is the Rizz Saints now, brother. This is a new Saints, brother," McAfee told Adam Schefter this week. "Taysom Hill is back to doing Taysom Hill sh**, too. I put that Tweet out about Taysom Hill, I’m like, it feels like coach Rizz walked into the offensive meeting room and said, I don’t know what it is but I haven’t seen Taysom Hill do Taysom Hill stuff in like 2 years. Has anybody? Am I the only one that's missing him? You’ve got Taysom throwing touchdowns, catching touchdowns, throwing interceptions, fumbling. I mean, you had the real Taysom Hill experience yesterday for this New Orleans Saints team and I know their record says they’re mathematically close to being out of it, but why not Rizz and the Saints getting hot?"
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The Saints are among the 'winners' in Gilbert Manzano's weekly column on SI and for a few reasons, but the most obviously being the Taysom Hill machine. (read more here)
"I don’t know the answer to the endless debate about whether or not Hill is a tight end ... but he’s a very good football player and his epic performance against the Browns now has the Saints (4–7) two games behind the Atlanta Falcons (6–5) for first place in the NFC South. Imagine saying that right after New Orleans fired coach Dennis Allen in the wake of a seven-game losing streak."
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And speaking of SI, Albert Breer had some positive things to say in his MMQB column after hanging out on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome and chatting with Derek Carr. He points to the obvious parallels of the 2024 Saints and the 2021 Raiders team that went to the playoffs behind special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia with Carr starting at QB. (read more here)
"And, remarkably," Breer writes, "down just two games now in the division, they still have a shot to prove it, just like those Raiders teams Carr once led."
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How about over on NBC? Chris Simms can't stop talking about the impact of Taysom Hill -- duh. (watch here).
“He had a fumble, he had an interception, too. It was crazy, because he had moments of the game where you’re like, ah, Taysom Hill fumbled going into the end zone one time. They put him in at quarterback one time and they called a deep post route and he was like, well, it was open all week in practice, I’m just gonna throw it no matter what. And it was like, no, there’s three guys there, Taysom, don’t just throw it. But other than those two plays he was absolute everywhere, he is still, as we saw today, an incredible weapon for any offense. … 34 years old, holy crap, I didn’t realize he was that old. That is impressive, the shape he’s kept himself in. He is so rocked up, explosive, some of the runs he made today, some of the receptions, breaks tackles, does all of that. He is, he’s a little bit of a Swiss Army knife, he’s a guy, it’s a rare to see, he’s a tight end, H-back, can play some running back, do all of that. But it was his day and I was definitely surprised with the amount of big plays they put on the Cleveland Browns defense.”
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And last but not least, the Saints FINALLY got some love in the weekly power rankings. Here's a quick rundown:
- PFT: 21 (+8), "The Saints have all the Rizz"
- USA Today: 24 (+4), "the interim coach is now 2-0"
- Yahoo! Sports: 23 (+4)
- ESPN: 22 (+3)
- The Sporting News: 23 (+3), "The Saints have gotten a big spark from special teams coach Darren Rizzi"
- The Ringer: 23 (+3), "They showed more fight in the second half of this game than we've seen most of the season"