Dennis Allen has been fired by the New Orleans Saints after a seven-game losing streak.

The Saints began the season in red-hot form, racing to 2-0, but they have lost seven straight, leading owner Gayle Benson to fire the head coach. Allen is the second mid-season head coaching casualty after New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh was fired in Week 6.

Allen’s final game in charge was Sunday’s 23-22 defeat to NFC South rivals the Carolina Panthers (2-7). Special teams coach Darren Rizzi has been placed in interim charge until the end of the season.

Allen had a four-year stint with the Saints from 2006-10 before returning to the organization in 2015 after a failed stint as head coach of the Oakland Raiders.

Allen was defensive coordinator for New Orleans under Sean Payton before being elevated to head coach after Payton’s departure in 2022. Allen oversaw 7-10 and 9-8 seasons over his first two years in charge, missing the playoffs both times.

Better times appeared to be ahead for the franchise at the outset of his third season, blowing out both the Panthers and the Dallas Cowboys in the opening two weeks.

Allen could not rescue his team from a tailspin and has paid the price with seven regular-season games still to play

Allen could not rescue his team from a tailspin and has paid the price with seven regular-season games still to play ( 

Image:

Harry How/Getty Images)

But narrow defeats to the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons followed before the Saints’ season completely went off the rails. A 51-27 rout at the hands of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 13 left the team two games under .500, and things only got worse.

They were humbled 33-10 on their home turf by Payton’s Denver Broncos before a listless performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, losing 26-8.

But the nadir was Sunday’s defeat to the one-win Panthers, with struggling second-year quarterback Bryce Young leading his team to a rare victory. The Saints dominated the stat line in every sense, gaining more yards through the air and on the ground, and giving up no turnovers.

Yet they still found a way to blow what would have been a morale-boosting win that likely would have bought Allen more time to rescue the Saints’ season. Instead, at 2-7 with an interim head coach to oversee the remainder of the campaign, their playoff hopes are dead with few reasons for optimism on the roster.

Allen spoke in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s defeat like a man who was not expecting to lose his job less than 24 hours later.

“I just think we have to do better,” he said. “As a rule, I really don’t believe that [a mid-season coaching change] is the difference. So, we’ll evaluate where we are and we’ll make changes based on what we think our issues are.

“I have to be better for our guys. Here’s what I’ll say: I’m going to keep coming in every day and fight my a– off, just like I have every single day that I’ve been here and I’ll just keep doing that.”