Saints coach Dennis Allen calls out New Orleans after disappointing loss to Jaguars

The New Orleans Saints nearly came away from their Thursday Night Football showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars with a win, despite trailing 24-9 heading into the 4th quarter. The 31-24 loss dropped the Saints to 3-4 on the season, a record that seems all too appropriate for a team whose coach feels “inconsistency” is the big issue his squad is dealing with.

“Our team is too inconsistent right now, and that’s what’s causing us problems,” Dennis Allen said of his Saints in his press conference after the game. “If I had one word to say about where we’re at as a team, it’s that we’re a little inconsistent. That’s the challenge. We’ve got to become a more consistent football team,” Allen continued (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).

The Saints were considered the favorite to win the NFC South division this year, a testament to a defense that has been top ten in points allowed each of the last three years and a worthwhile bet on Derek Carr having plenty left in the tank after a disappointing end to his tenure as the quarterback of the Raiders.

The Saints now have ten days off before their next game, a visit to Indianapolis to take on the Colts.

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Quarterback Trevor Lawrence led the Jacksonville Jaguars to a thrilling 31-24 win over the New Orleans Saints on Thursday.

Led by two touchdowns from Travis Etienne, the Jaguars took a commanding 24-9 lead before scores from Taysom Hill and Michael Thomas helped level the scores.

However, Lawrence wasn’t done yet and connected with Christian Kirk for a 44-yard winning touchdown with just 3:08 left on the clock.

Lawrence, who had never won in New Orleans before Thursday’s game, finished with 20 of 29 passes completed for 204 yards and has now led the Jaguars to their best start since 2007.

“I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth every time I’ve left New Orleans, so it feels good to get a win here,” said Lawrence, per ESPN.

Lawrence had been a doubt for the game after playing through a knee injury late in the Jaguars’ previous win over the Indianapolis Colts, but the 24-year-old came through this one unscathed.

“It felt pretty good,” he said of the knee. “I was happy with it, and it didn’t bother me too much. Definitely didn’t set it back, so I’m really happy with it.

“That was the goal, find a way to win the game and not set it back, and we’ll get 10 days now to recover and get ready for Pittsburgh.

“It went perfect, honestly, so that was really good.”

While the Jaguars have now won four in a row, the Saints continue to struggle and are now 3-4 after winning just once in their previous five games.

“We’re finding it hard to start fast, finding it hard to maintain, to execute sometimes and we’re finding it hard to finish,” Saints running back Alvin Kamara said, per the Guardian.