Shutout officially puts Saints glory days to rest

Jauan Jennings for 6! 😤@NFL | #FTTBpic.twitter.com/ygdKdcPBL5

— FanSided (@FanSided) November 27, 2022

The glory days of the New Orleans Saints are officially over.

They started to fade last season when a string of four consecutive division championships ended.

And the remnants have been slipping away during this season.

But they received the last rites Sunday afternoon in a 13-0 loss to the 49ers in San Francisco.

It wasn’t just because the team fell to 4-8. It was more the manner in which yet another loss happened.

It was fitting that the end came in the Bay Area, site of so much Saints heartache for decades.

The first era in New Orleans that could pass for glory days came during Jim Mora’s tenure as head coach. The Saints had their first winning record, first division championship, first four playoff appearances during Mora’s tenure.

But the Saints were stuck in the NFC West during the time that the 49ers were the most successful franchise in the NFL. The Saints went to San Francisco 11 times during Mora’s tenure and won three games and lost eight.

One of Sean Payton’s best teams – the 2011 Saints – went to San Francisco for a divisional playoff.

It could have been one of the most significant wins in franchise history, but it turned into one of the most gut-wrenching defeats.

The Saints overcame a disastrous start to bounce back and grab the lead with less than two minutes remaining, then watched the home team march 85 yards and score the decisive touchdown with nine seconds left.

The loss on Sunday didn’t have the same impact on the standings that many of those other trips to the Bay Area had.

But the symbolic impact was historic.

The Saints were shut out for the first time in 333 games. That’s more than 20 seasons of games.

The last time the Saints didn’t score in a game was January 6, 2002, in the final game of the 2001 season. Jim Haslett was the head coach.

The opponent? The San Francisco 49ers, though that game was played in the Superdome.

It was a given that the Saints would not be shut out while Payton was the head coach and Drew Brees was the quarterback.

But Brees retired after the 2020 season and Payton resigned after the 2021 season.

Now former defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is the head coach. Pete Carmichael, Payton’s top offensive assistant, is the offensive coordinator and Andy Dalton is the quarterback.

On Sunday they made history.

Midway through the first half the Saints drove to a first down at midfield, but on fourth 3 at the 43 they punted.

Later in the second quarter they took over at the 49ers 38 after a punt return and a 49ers penalty.

Taysom Hill connected with Chris Olave on what appeared to be a 30-yard pass completion, but the play was ruled incomplete on replay review. The Saints wound up punting from the 49ers 42, four yards farther from the plus goal line than they started.

On their first possession of the third quarter the Saints drove to a first down at the 49ers 30. They got as close as the 23, but on third and 5 at the 25 Dalton threw an incompletion.

Allen, sensing that a field goal was of minimal value because the Saints would still be down by two scores, left the offense on the field to go for fourth down. But Ryan Ramczyk false-started and facing fourth and 10 Allen recalculated.

He sent Wil Lutz onto the field to try a field goal, but he was wide from 48 yards.

The Saints had two golden opportunities to score touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

On the first it was second and goal from the six when Dalton connected with Alvin Kamara, who reached the one-yard line before losing a fumble for the second time in the game.

On the next possession they reached first and goal at the four and after advancing no farther in three plays, Dalton was sacked on fourth down.

And that was that.

Of course, if the game situation were different Allen likely would have sent Lutz on the field on one or both of those last two opportunities and he almost certainly would have made a chip shot. And the streak of shutout-free games would have lived.

To Allen’s credit he ignored the streak and focused on trying to win the game, which required a touchdown at that point.

But the Saints offense failed just as it failed play after play, possession after possession, quarter after quarter.

We knew the offense would change once Brees retired. We knew the team would change once Payton retired.

The identity figured to be different under a defense-minded coach than it had been under the offense-minded Payton.

Perhaps sometime in the not-too-distant future Allen or some other head coach will begin a new, highly successful era.

But the offense-guided glory days that began with Payton and Brees in 2006 was officially laid to rest on Sunday.

R.I.P.