NEW ORLEANS — The misery is over, and the celebrations on Sunday were almost spiritual.
That seven-week journey was so difficult, that breaking out of it was euphoric.
It doesn't make it all better.. Certainly doesn't get you in the playoffs, but for one Sunday at least – it was awesome.
And there might have been some divine intervention, luck, or whatever you want to call it.
Atlanta's Younghoe Koo missed three kicks in the Superdome.
That's more than he missed in all of 2020 – or 2021.
Before this game, Koo was the 6th most accurate kicker in NFL history.
This was his worst day ever and we'll take it.
4) Finding Receivers
The offense got better in Week 10 because the wide receiver position got better.
Of course, the Saints lost Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed to injury, and none of the options behind them have been able to get it done.
No depth at wide receiver is an organizational failure.
But now, it looks like the Saints may have found a couple of players.
They signed Marquez Valdez-Scantling less than three weeks ago.
MVS was drafted by the Packers and he was so good in Green Bay the Chiefs signed him to $30 million deal.
He won two Super Bowls but was largely disappointing and the Chiefs released him.
Buffalo signed him this season, then cut him last month.
But he's 6-4 and can fly.
Kevin Austin was an undrafted guy out of Notre Dame two years ago. He played well enough in the United Football League to get a shot with the Saints.
He was on the practice squad until Sunday when he made his first NFL catch.
Austin and Valdez-Scantling played like legitimate NFL receivers which helped Derek Carr have a huge day.
Of the 26 quarterbacks who started this week through Sunday night, Carr had the third-best passer rating of the week.
3) Offensive Shutdown
Although at No. 3, the Saints overcame an offensive shutdown.
The New Orleans 'O' died in the second half:
- 12 first downs in the first half, then two in the second
- 265 yards, then a hundred.
- 5-of-6 on third downs, then 0-of-7
This has to be fixed, but the Saints survived it.
2) Rizz
To get Darren Rizzi his first NFL victory as a head coach on the first try!
Against Philadelphia, against Atlanta – the first time, and Carolina last week, the Saints defense gave up game-winning drives in the final minutes by playing tight.
More than anything else, the thing it seems Rizz did best was loosen up the team.
Late third quarter, the Saints had a three-point lead and in their last four possessions, they went 3-and-out all four times.
No points. No first downs.
The Falcons had four chances to go ahead.
The Saints defense got a 3-and-out. On drive two, a Cam Jordan sack forced a longer field goal which Koo missed. On drive three, a Tyrann Mathieu interception. On drive four, a Chase Young sack led to the Falcons running out of time.
Rizzi's message got through to the defense and they had their best fourth quarter of the season.
1) What Now?
Which leads us to – what now?
Darren Rizzi has seven more games to show what he can do.
The Saints don't have to make any decisions now, so let's see where we are in a month.
Rizzi is the 18th head coach in Saints history.
Of those 18, do you know where Dennis Allen ranks in number of wins? He's the 5th winningest coach in team history.
Just to lay out some potential contenders, the top offensive guys are Detroit coordinator Ben Johnson and Houston's Bobby Slowik.
The top defensive guys are Detroit's Aaron Glenn, who coached in New Orleans, and Minnesota's Brian Flores, and two well-known retreads in former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel and Patriots legend Bill Belichick.
All six candidates figure to draw interest in this coaching cycle.
But Rizzi has a clear path to the job – just win.
He's already given New Orleans a huge gift in an end to seven weeks of pain.
WWL Louisiana's '4 Takeaways' sponsored by Rouse's Markets, the official supermarket of the New Orleans Saints.
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