New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen named veteran quarterback Andy Dalton the team’s starter regardless of health over Jameis Winston earlier this season. He may want to rethink that decision after another mediocre performance from Dalton on Monday against the Baltimore Ravens.
Dalton and the Saints struggled mightily for most of the game, scoring only 13 points offensively which mostly came in garbage time with the game well in hand for Baltimore.
The Ravens had no interest tackling/pushing Juwan Johnson out of bounds. A 41-yard touchdown for the Saints! 🏈 #MNF pic.twitter.com/sOeVCUBeDN
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 8, 2022
Dalton continued his recent turnover woes by throwing a costly interception to Ravens defensive lineman Justin Houston.
Justin Houston with the Ravens interception! #MNF🏈 pic.twitter.com/De4SojP0yh
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 8, 2022
He was also extremely lucky to have another potential interception by Ravens rookie safety Kyle Hamilton overturned on a controversial pass interference call.
Peyton Manning blasts the refs for a PI call on what would've been a Ravens INT.
"That's a horrible call. That's a horrible call."
"All that attention we gave to the NFL referees last year, wearing the Clete Blakeman jersey, I take it all back… That call right there stinks." pic.twitter.com/I2V3HCWP2L
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 8, 2022
Dalton was simply unable to get into any kind of a flow offensively, which has critics calling for Jameis Winston to be reinserted as the Saints starting quarterback moving forward.
Andy Dalton is not a better option than Jameis Winston
— 𝐊𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐦 (@kylegrantham) November 8, 2022
Jameis Winston should be the starter.
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) November 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/LetItRoll717/status/1589804429485969410
Jameis Winston and Dennis Allen looking at Andy Dalton pic.twitter.com/hpxMB2Vmj7
— Mojo Fantasy (@mojo) November 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/iam_johnw/status/1589826172577542146
The Saints need to go ahead and put America’s QB — Jameis Winston back under center.
— Jovan Alford (@Jovan10) November 8, 2022
To be fair to Dalton, he didn’t get much help from the rest of his offense on Monday. The Saints’ offensive line allowed four sacks in the game and was limited to just 48 yards rushing.
New Orleans sits at just 3-6 following Monday’s loss, and it seems pretty clear that something needs to change moving forward if they have any aspirations of a potential playoff berth this year.
Perhaps the only silver lining to the season for the Saints is the overall struggles of the entire NFC South thus far.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are currently atop the division with a 4-5 record, so the Saints are certainly still in contention to potentially win the division.
