The three Saints are most responsible for another double-digit blow and a sixth straight loss

The saints On Sunday, they led the Los Angeles Chargers before losing their sixth straight game for the first time in a regular season since 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. The 26-8 setback also marked New Orleans’ fourth straight double-digit score and third straight with three touchdowns or more.

But from the 10:20 mark of the first quarter until the 2:55 mark of the second quarter, the Saints led 2-0 after a safety. That was New Orleans’ first lead since taking a 24-23 lead in Atlanta on Sept. 29 on a 1-yard touchdown run by Alvin Kamara with 60 seconds to play. The Saints lost 26-24 on a 58-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo with :02 to go.

They’ve been catching up since then, and a New Orleans sports radio talk show host has called coach Dennis Allen “Dead Man Walking” as he is 2-6 after going 9-8 last year and 7-10 in its first season.

“Look, we all understand that it’s a results-oriented business and we have to play better football,” Allen said.

If anything, the competition lightens up considerably on Sunday, with the Saints playing at 1-7 Carolina (11 a.m. Eastern, CBS), which has the worst record in the NFL and is coming off a 47-10 loss at New Orleans in the opener.

The Saints got starting right guard Cesar Ruiz back from a knee injury after he missed four straight games, and he often led the way for running back Alvin Kamara as he gained 67 yards on 10 carries. But the rest of the line continued to struggle.

Left guard Lucas Patrick drew two of five penalties from the line during the game, with a pair of holds of -20 yards in the first half. Center Connor McGovern drifted too far downfield and had an ineligible receiver in the second quarter. In the second half, right tackle Trevor Penning was whistled for holding, and left tackle Taliese Fuaga had a false start.

“We are a team that is not very focused on details right now,” Kamara said. “We’re not a team that’s very focused on execution. We don’t really take pride in the details. There’s a lot of bad stuff going on right now.”

The offensive line also allowed five sacks while the Saints punted nine times, including eight in the first 10 possessions. New Orleans was 2-of-16 on third downs and didn’t score a touchdown in a game for the first time since its 24-15 loss to Atlanta on Nov. 26 last year, when it got five field goals from Blake Grupe.

“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Allen said.

“We’re going forward, then backward, forward, then backward,” rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler said.

Rattler dropped to 0-3 as a starter for the injured Derek Carr (oblique), who is expected to play against Carolina on Sunday. Rattler completed 12 of 24 passes for 156 yards around three sacks. He doesn’t help himself under pressure as he seems slow and unsure and often takes too long to release the ball. His accuracy is also suspect.

Sophomore quarterback Jake Haener replaced Rattler in the third quarter. He wasn’t as hot either, but he did seem more decisive with faster throws. He completed 9 of 17 for 122 yards.

“I felt like we had to do something to get something going offensively,” Allen said. “We weren’t able to move the football and we had to do something to create some kind of spark.”

Quarterback Derek Carr’s early oblique injury in week five against Kansas City left the Saints with rookie Spencer Rattler and inexperienced sophomore Jake Haener at quarterback. The Saints could have instead brought in highly experienced backup Jameis Winston if Allen and Loomis had retained him after last season.

Winston, who played well here and there as the Saints’ backup and spot starter from 2020-2023 after his five years in Tampa Bay, wanted to stay in New Orleans. But Allen never seemed to think much of Winston. He also didn’t like Winston changing his call from a kneel-down during Atlanta’s blowout in last season’s season finale to a handoff for a touchdown. Winston’s teammates certainly liked it, though, and many still believe Allen lost the locker room then. Before you know it, Winston is a Cleveland Brown.

And on Sunday Winston started his first match in two years for the injured Deshaun Watson and came through in a big way, completing 27 of 41 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions in a 29-24 upset of Baltimore. All three TD passes of 23, 22 and 38 yards put Cleveland in the lead – 13-10 in the third, 20-17 in the third and 29-24 with 59 seconds left for the win.

He also gave an impassioned pre-match speech to his teammates, telling the then 1-6 team to believe it.

“He had a lot of confidence in the group,” Browns guard Joel Bitonio said. “He was ready to go. He has a lot of energy. But he has been that way since he got here.”

The Saints could certainly use some of that energy and confidence.