New Orleans Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi joined Voice of the Saints Mike Hoss and Saints legend Bobby Hebert on the Saints Coaches Show on WWL on Monday, Dec. 16 to talk about the loss to the Washington Commanders, generating more takeaways, the upcoming game against the Green Bay Packers and more.
Here are the top five takeaway's from Rizzi's appearance:
1. Going for two and the win
The Saints lost to the Washington Commanders 20-19 on Sunday, Dec. 15. The game came down to the final play as the Saints opted to go for a two-point conversion and the win with no time remaining on the clock rather than kicking an extra point and taking the game to overtime. Rizzi stood by his decision to go for the win following the touchdown pass to Foster Moreau.
"In every game, as you guys know, there's ebbs and flows to the game and that's the beauty of this game," Rizzi said. "And I think any time you're talking about game management, time management, fourth-down decisions, two-point plays, all that stuff, I don't think you can make a blanket statement as far as analytics go, I know we've talked about that on this show before. And so, I felt like the way that game had gone, we obviously dug a big hole in the first half, but we dug our way out, and we gave ourselves a chance, one play on the two-yard line to win the game and I don't regret it for one second, making a decision. I think it was the right decision at that time and obviously it didn't work out.
"You guys all know how this works. If we complete the pass, and we get the two-point conversion, it was the greatest call in the history of the world, and we didn't. It's easy to second guess. And so, I just felt like it was the right call for the moment. I didn't want Jayden Daniels to get the ball back. We saw him, although we did a phenomenal job defensively for the game ... we saw him also make some plays with his feet, throwing the ball, they missed on some deep shots in the second half that were damn close to being explosives. We didn't want to bring him back on the field. And so, I would tell you that I think the decision, I don't regret it looking back on it."
As for whether he would do the same if it came down to a similar situation in Green Bay, Rizzi said it would depend.
"If we're in that situation in Green Bay, we'll see how the game plays out," he said. "If the game plays out differently, then maybe I would make a different decision on the road. Who knows? And then the other thing you have to factor in is this: in the regular season, it's sudden death only if the other team scores a touchdown, and the other thing you have to take it into account is it's only a 10-minute half and coming out of there with the tie wouldn't have really helped us either which is a possibility obviously in the regular season. And they had control of the ball for 40 minutes out of 60 for that game. So, there's just a lot of factors as we went through there and I just felt like: last play the game, two-yard line, here we go. So, it was a decision for that particular game. I understand the criticism and I understand the second-guessing but I don't regret it for one second."
2. Standout defenders
Rizzi praised the contributions of three defenders in the game against the Commanders. He started with two veterans who had season best performances in linebacker Demario Davis and defensive end Cameron Jordan. Davis finished with a season-high 14 tackles (nine solo), including one sack and two tackles for loss. Jordan had season highs with six tackles (three solo), including two sacks for a loss of 11 yards.
"I think Demario might have his best game of the season for us. I think Cam probably played his best game of the season for us. And that's a credit to those guys. In week 15, game 14, for those guys at this point in this stage in their career, it says a lot about them as pros and as people and as leaders. And so, I can't say enough positive things about those two guys that you mentioned," Rizzi said.
He also praised defensive end Chase Young who he said in the last two weeks had "probably his best two weeks as a Saint." The Ohio State product tallied three tackles including two sacks for a loss of nine yards in the game against his former team.
"So those guys are really playing their best football right now," Rizzi said. "And that's a credit to them, credit to their preparation. I appreciate the credit, but I'm going to give the credit back to the players because, I think … at the end of the day, it's about showing up every day, being a pro, doing what you're supposed to do, doing what you get paid for and those guys are just exemplary examples, phenomenal examples of that."
3. Generating more takeaways
In the last five games, the Saints have only managed to secure two turnovers while they had brought in 14 in the team's first nine games. The Saints have been able to minimize their own mistakes on offense only turning the ball over four times in the last five games compared to 11 turnovers in the first nine contests.
"These last five games, that's something that we can definitely get better at is taking the football away," Rizzi said. "We got a couple of missed opportunities. We dropped a couple interceptions, but that's something we were doing at the beginning of the year is we were actually up there. I think we were leading the league in interceptions there for a while. The good news is we haven't turned the ball over a lot these last five games. The bad news is we haven't taken it away. We certainly want to be better than plus one for the year. Up there in their place, if I'm not mistaken, I think that Matt LaFleur's teams are 24 and 0 at home when they've won the turnover battle. So, that's going to be the No. 1 stat of the day and they're under .500 at home … when they lose a turnover battle. So, this is going to be the key to the game."
The Packers have committed 16 turnovers, 14th best in the league, while they have excelled at generating takeaways bringing in 26, the fourth highest total in the NFL.
4. Contributions from Kendre Miller
Running back Kendre Miller got back in the lineup the last two games and has contributed 19 carries for 78 yards and a touchdown. Miller helped play a key role in the two-minute touchdown drive, with four carries for 28 yards to help the Saints down the field after running back Alvin Kamara had exited the contest with a groin injury. Rizzi said he was proud of what Miller had done in the last two weeks.
"Kendre's challenge is going to be to sustain success," he said. "We all know, everyone that follows the Saints, knows that's been kind of his deal is that he hasn't had these long stretches of playing time. And so, listen, I'm here to support Kendre. I'm proud of him for the last couple of weeks of preparation. He's done a really nice job with the ball in his hand and I think one of the things he can get better at is when the ball's not in his hand, pass protection, route running details, formation and things like that. So that's something that he's got to continue to work on, but obviously he's been a positive for us here these last couple of weeks."
5. On to Green Bay
The Saints will head up to Wisconsin to take on a 10-4 Packers team at Lambeau Field on "Monday Night Football" on Dec. 23. The Weather Channel forecasts a high of 32 degrees, low of 27 degrees with a 24% chance of snow or sleet. Rizzi said he is hoping for some cold fronts to roll through New Orleans to help the team practice.
"At this time in Green Bay, if the temperature has two digits, we'll take it. We've been up there before. People don't know, I've actually been up there a couple times at the end of the year throughout my career in the NFL. So, it's going to be a phenomenal atmosphere. And you got to remember, we got a lot of guys on our roster that have played a lot of football in cold weather whether it be college or high school or whatever. So, it's not like a lot of these guys are doing it for the first time. We got a chance to go to New York, New Jersey I should say, a couple of weeks ago and play, although it was a balmy 40-something degrees that day. But listen, we're going to practice outside this week on the grass. That's one of our challenges. You look at some of the teams, the Dolphins, the 49ers that have played up there the last couple of times and these guys are slipping and sliding all over the place. It's going to be important that we get the right footwear on. We're going to get up there and do a walkthrough, up there on Sunday, somewhere and try to get adjusted. But, it is what it is. The sidelines are nice and warm and the football is the football, and blocking and tackling is blocking and tackling. So, it is what it is. We're excited for 'Monday Night Football.' It's Lambeau Field. You can't get excited about that, something is wrong with you."
Check out the game action photos from the New Orleans Saints game against the Washington Commanders for Week 15 of the 2024 NFL Season on Dec. 15, 2024 at Caesars Superdome.