Derek Carr’s return to the New Orleans Saints starting lineup couldn’t have gone much worse.

He lost his top target to concussion when his pass over the middle sailed over him. He lost to the worst team in the league and became the first NFL quarterback to lose to 31 teams.

A day later, he lost his head coach.

These are not the Saints of Sean Payton and Drew Brees, of course. But Carr and Dennis Allen quickly raised their hopes of parading another Lombardi Trophy down Bourbon Street when the Saints totaled 91 points in back-to-back sweeps of Carolina and Dallas to start the season.

They scored on their first nine possessions in a 47-10 drubbing of the Panthers in the opener, then rolled over a week later at Jerry World when they reached the end zone on their first half-dozen drives in the a 44-19.

Those were heady times—and, as it turned out, fleeting.

The Saints have lost seven straight since Week 2 amid a flurry of injuries, including a strained oblique that sidelined Carr for three weeks.

Four of those losses were by double digits, including a 33-10 Thursday night rout by Payton and his new team, the resurgent Denver Broncos.

The costliest loss was the Saints’ 23-22 loss at Charlotte on Sunday when Carr couldn’t drive his team into field goal range in the final minute and the Saints left town with the same 2-7 record as the Panthers , a team. it’s statistically terrible and historically bad.

So Dennis Allen, who was previously fired by the then-Oakland Raiders in 2014, on Monday became the first coach in NFL history twice with the same quarterback starting both teams.

In a written statement released by the team, Allen thanked team owner Gayle Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis for the opportunity and said, “I’m sorry the results weren’t better, because they certainly were deserved”.

Allen is the second coach fired midseason in 2024. Jeff Ulbrich replaced Robert Saleh after the Jets’ 2-3 start and took a month to get his first win.

New Orleans’ caretaker is Darren Rizzi, who hosts the Browns (2-7) at home in two weeks and the Giants (2-7) on the road in four, but inherits a battered team and a quarterback that has been gutted by former teammate Michael Thomas on social media after wide receiver Chris Olave’s concussion on Sunday.

As he cut across the middle and reached for Carr’s errant pass, Olave was caught by safety Xavier Woods and cornerback Dane Jackson. While Woods was flagged for unnecessary roughness, Olave remained on the court for several minutes being attended to by trainers as the crowd fell silent as players from both teams gathered around him. He was eventually placed on a board and taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Thomas immediately criticized Carr on social media, saying that Carr tends to “just panic and throw the ball.” He also posted another message on X suggesting that Carr should be fined for throwing away a “hospital pass”.

Carr spoke for more than four minutes about Thomas’ comments after the game.

“I get a pit in my stomach anytime one of my teammates goes down because I love them so much,” Carr said. “Whether I like them or not, and I happen to love Chris Olave. We have a great relationship. I hate and I don’t like to use that word a lot, but I hate moments like this.”

Carr said Thomas, who has criticized Carr on social media before, seems to be the only teammate who hasn’t gotten along with him in the NFL.

“I don’t know what I did to him,” Carr said. “I don’t know why he feels this way. I’m sorry for everything he has to do to make him feel like he has to do this. But he never called me all this time. My phone number has never changed. I actually called him on several occasions just to try. Sometimes you can try as hard as you want and it just doesn’t work. And that’s okay. … But I wish him all the best. I hope he gets on a team and does what he wants to do and loves them.”

Woods said after the match that he did not believe it was a malicious shot, but officials told him he was penalized for hitting Olave in the head. “There was nothing dirty on my part, I was just playing football,” Woods said.

Entering the weekend, Carr was one of 10 QBs to lose to 30 different teams, a club that includes Brees, Brett Favre, Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. Now, Carr is the only QB to lose to 31 teams.

The only team he hasn’t lost to is his old team, the Raiders, who the Saints host on December 29.

Kelce’s apologies

Another mea culpa came when former Eagles center Jason Kelce began ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” by admitting he shouldn’t have returned a gay slur to a Penn State football fan who grilled him about his brother on Saturday , Travis, who is dating Taylor Swift.

“In the heat of the moment, I chose to meet hate with hate,” Jason Kelce said. “And I don’t think that’s a productive thing.”

Regrettable decisions

What ever happened to the axiom that you play for a home draw and an away win?

The Buccaneers lost 30-24 at Kansas City in overtime on Monday night after Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles decided to go for the tie rather than the win after Baker Mayfield’s 27-yard touchdown seconds left in regulation.

The Bucs were the third team to lose in Week 9 after kicking the tying extra point on a TD in the final minute of regulation. The others were the Tennessee Patriots and the Seahawks at home against the Rams.

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With contributions from AP Pro Football writer Josh Dubow in San Francisco and AP Sports writers Steve Reed in Charlotte and Brett Martel in New Orleans.

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