With no playoff berth or positioning at stake – and minus offensive starters at quarterback, running back, receiver, left guard and center and defensive starters at cornerback and linebacker – the New Orleans Saints submitted an impassioned season finale which suggested that through it all, the message of interim head coach Darren Rizzi carried through to the end.
The Saints led 16-6 at halftime before succumbing to Tampa Bay in the second half of a 27-19 defeat that ended New Orleans' season with a 5-12 mark.
Until the last, quarterback Derek Carr and running back Alvin Kamara were rehabbing the respective injuries that kept them out of the final four (Carr) and three (Kamara) games.
New Orleans was 5-5 in games Carr started and Kamara finished 50 rushing yards short of his first 1,000-yard season, topping out with a career-high 950.
"It means a lot to me," Rizzi said of the duo's attempts to get back on the field. "I think there's probably a collection of people out there that thought that I was full of crap. When I said that some of those guys were coming back, I'm sure they thought I was just throwing it out there for the opponent to get ready for them.
"Derek Carr was in there every day, I spoke to him every day in the training room and I'm watching a guy that wanted to get back and wanted to play. Did Alvin want to get back and get 1,000 yards and get back on the field? Absolutely. He wanted to get back and he wanted to play.
"It meant a lot to me, that those guys didn't want to go on IR (injured reserve) – 'Rizz, I don't want to go on IR, I'm trying to get back.' The easy thing to do, especially when you're eliminated from the playoff is, 'I'll see you next year.' Especially with guys that are name players like that, guys with established careers.
"It meant a lot to me personally, to watch those guys in there every day trying to fight back and get out there. And it meant a lot to me watch guys – Cam Jordan, Demario Davis – and these guys in this last game of the year, they're flying around the field, still playing with a passion."
On Monday, almost to a man Saints players were effusive in compliments for Rizzi, who was named interim head coach Nov. 4 and guided New Orleans to a 3-5 record, with three of the losses by one score – 21-14 to the Rams, 20-19 to the Commanders and 27-19 to the Buccaneers.
"Rizz is a coach that I would love to play for," tight end Juwan Johnson said. "So personable, he's a guy that you want to learn from. Great energy. Even the quirks that he had – the things before the team meetings – those are things that you can always carry.
"A lot of coaches can't do the job that he did. He did a really good job for the situation he was in. Many people would say we were a lost cause, but we were still in it while he was our head coach. He did a great job for us. He got great experience – it was his first time as a head coach. I'm excited to see where it leads him."
The Saints weren't officially eliminated from playoff contention until Dec. 22, with three games remaining.
"I thought he had a great mind-set, was very positive," said quarterback Spencer Rattler, who started the final three regular-season games and made six starts overall in his rookie season. "He had a great message for us each week on how to win. We won some, we lost some but that's just the nature of the business. I really enjoyed my time with him, and always wish him the best."
"Rizz has been great with everything this year, being able to handle all the head coaching duties that come out with it, and also getting special teams done as well," kicker Blake Grupe said. "All you could ask for, I feel like, at certain points of this year was for guys to believe and guys to want to play and play hard. And I know that the record didn't necessarily display that, but I believe that's the truth."
New Orleans was decimated by injuries this season, beginning in Game 3 when center Erik McCoy suffered a groin injury that required surgery. From there, injuries were sustained by receivers Rashid Shaheed, Chris Olave and Bub Means, Kamara, tight end/running back/quarterback Taysom Hill, left guard Lucas Patrick, safety Will Harris and cornerbacks Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore – all starters – among others.
Even linebacker Demario Davis, who'd never missed a game due to injury in his previous six seasons as a Saint, missed one with a hamstring injury.
But after Dennis Allen was fired after a 2-7 start that included a seven-game losing streak, Rizzi managed to rally the locker room.
"'Supportive' is probably the best thing I could say," Rizzi said. "From Day 1 the texts started coming in and guys coming up to my office, 'Whatever we need to do to help you out,' just extremely supportive.
"We made some changes and you never know what's going to get kind of frowned upon or side-eyed, and there was never, ever, ever any of that. I think everyone knew that I was coming from a good place and I think guys realized that and were like, 'What can we do to help?'
"Whether it was the guys that have been here the longest – Cam, Demario, Derek, Alvin – all the guys, the captains, all the leaders of that locker room were the guys that stepped up the most. The support from the locker room has been unreal."
