Saints fire head coach Dennis Allen; Raiders’ Antonio Pierce removes OC Luke Getsy

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans Saints fired coach Dennis Allen on Monday, the day after a loss at last-place Carolina extended the Saints’ losing streak to seven games — its longest since 1999.

Darren Rizzi was named interim coach, the team announced.

Allen is 18-25 without a playoff appearance since taking over in 2022 after Sean Payton, the most successful coach in Saints history, began what turned out to be a one-season retirement from coaching.

Allen was promoted by general manager Mickey Loomis after a successful six-season tenure as New Orleans’ defensive coordinator, a period that saw his unit ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in 2020 and 2021.

While the Saints continued to field one of the better defenses in the NFL during Allen’s first two seasons as head coach, the offense has been erratic and often struggled in the late stages of close games.

This year, with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak in charge, the offense began the season by scoring a stunning 91 points over consecutive victories in Weeks 1 and 2. Since then, however, the unit has struggled to produce while injuries to key players have mounted.

Center Erik McCoy, the Saints’ most accomplished offensive lineman, was the first to go down in Week 3 and hasn’t played since. Meanwhile, New Orleans has endured stints without quarterback Derek Carr, top receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed and veteran guard Cesar Ruiz, among others.

New Orleans entered Sunday’s loss to the Panthers without three of its top four cornerbacks on defense: Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo and Kool-Aid McKinstry.

But Carr was back from a three-game absence.

The Saints outgained the Panthers 427 yards to 246 yet still lost, 23-22 — to a team it had beaten 47-10 in Week 1.

Allen went 7-10 in his first season with the Saints and improved to 9-8 last year, narrowly missing the playoffs. Allen hoped that with a new offense, New Orleans would improve enough to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020 — which also was franchise all-time passer Drew Brees’ final NFL season.

But since it’s strong opening two weeks, New Orleans’ offense has largely languished and dropped to 16th in yards per game (331.4) through Sunday’s games.

Allen’s defense, meanwhile, has plummeted to 28th, allowing 376.4 yards per game.

While the 52-year-old Allen remains an accomplished defensive coordinator, his prospects for getting another head coaching position are dim at best. He is now 26-53 as an NFL coach, including his 8-28 record with the Oakland from 2012-14.

Raiders fire offensive assistants, including OC Luke Getsy

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The slumping Raiders fired offensive coordinator Luke Getsy as part of an offensive coaching staff shakeup Sunday night, less than a year after Las Vegas hired him.

Quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello and offensive line coach James Cregg also were let go. Both also were on the job less than a year.

The moves come on the same day the Raiders lost 41-24 at Cincinnati, their fifth defeat in a row to fall to 2-7.

Coach Antonio Pierce’s decision-making also has come under scrutiny after what had been a feel-good story for Raiders fans after he went 5-4 as the interim coach to end last season. By making these moves, there will be increased focus on what Pierce does moving forward to get the Raiders going in the right direction.

He will meet with the media on a virtual call Monday morning and likely will be asked who will fill the now vacant jobs.

Pierce had touted the hiring of Getsy, who came to Las Vegas with major question marks about being fired by the Bears after last season, largely for his handling of quarterback Justin Fields. Chicago opted to not only dismiss Getsy but trade Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With Getsy in charge, the Raiders have ranked near the bottom of the NFL in several offensive categories. They average just 18.7 points and 280.2 yards per game.

Expectations were low entering the season because the Raiders’ quarterbacks were journeyman Gardner Minshew and second-year pro Aidan O’Connell, who was steady but far from spectacular over the final half of last season. The Raiders have since signed Desmond Ridder, who flamed out in Atlanta and was on Arizona’s practice squad.

Plus, there was the trade drama surrounding wide receiver Davante Adams, who eventually was shipped to the New York Jets.

Regardless, Getsy did himself few favors with often conservative play-calling that came under increasing scrutiny each week as the losses the piled up. He showed little ability to make in-game adjustments.

The Raiders scored opening-drive touchdowns in four their past five games and four on the other 50 series combined.

Midseason changes are not new for the Raiders, who will be changing head coaches or coordinators in the middle of the year for the fourth time in the past five seasons.

Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was fired late in the 2020 season, coach Jon Gruden was replaced five games into 2021 over the release of his offensive emails, and coach Josh McDaniels was fired after eight games last season. Now Getsy is gone.

Follow @AZSports