It’s hard to say too many good things about the New Orleans Saints season, and Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton didn’t try to fake it. He gave New Orleans a D grade.
The Saints’ season-long battle with injuries is a huge reason for it, but not the only reason. Moton correctly summed up the Saints’ 2024 demise: “they fell apart because of injuries and a declining defense.”
Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed missed a combined 20 games. Alvin Kamara missed the last three week. Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz and Lucas Patrick missed time simultaneously, making it harder for rookie backup Spencer Rattler during Derek Carr’s seven-game absence.
All of those injuries were on the offense, however. Paulson Adebo was really the lone injury defensively. Marshon Lattimore’s absence was spent mostly in Washington. The defense simply got too old and slow — and then they played without discipline by drawing too many penalties and giving up easy running lanes.
The defense still struggled with allowing explosive plays and fundamentals, such as tackling. It was these issues that made Dennis Allen’s departure mandatory. Not only was the team struggling to win games, his side of the ball was beginning to struggle as well.
What was once the backbone of the team turned into as much of a liability as the injured offense. The pairing of the two led to the worst season by the Saints in nearly 20 years. They must be better in 2025.
