Those who watched the New Orleans Saints fall to 5-10 on the season via an ugly 34-0 "Monday Night Football" loss at the Green Bay Packers couldn't have been blamed for believing at least some New Orleans players tapped out during the game.
Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi spoke with reporters following the defeat and insisted that those in his locker room remained dedicated to the cause throughout the league's first shutout of the campaign.
"The day I took over, we were on a seven-game losing streak," Rizzi explained, as ESPN's Rob Demovsky shared. "It would've been easier, easy for a lot of players and veteran guys especially, to kind of check out, and I've never ever felt that. I didn't feel that today. I thought, to be honest with you, I thought we had a great prep week, we had a great walk-through last night. I felt like we were locked in. We didn't perform. Sometimes, in this league, it's going to happen."
As Rizzi alluded to, the Saints fell from 2-0 to 2-7 before head coach Dennis Allen was shown the door and before Rizzi guided the club to back-to-back victories. While some wondered in November if Rizzi could ultimately earn the full-time job, it seems unlikely now that the Saints have lost three of their past four games.
With starting New Orleans quarterback Derek Carr sidelined due to injury, rookie Spencer Rattler failed to impress in front of a prime-time television audience. He completed 15-of-30 passes for 153 yards with no touchdowns and an interception at Lambeau Field.
Before Monday's game got underway, ESPN's Adam Schefter named current Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel as potential replacements for Rizzi. One wonders if such whispers will impact how New Orleans players approach this coming Sunday's home game against the 3-12 Las Vegas Raiders.
As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Saints as one-point favorites for that matchup.
"We didn't have a very good performance," Rizzi added during his post-game comments. "I never felt like our guys are looking down the road and not giving effort because of our playoff status. I never felt like that one time during this time I've taken over. I didn't feel like that tonight. I feel like we got outcoached and outexecuted. That's the way it is."
