There was no covering the weight Tyrann Mathieu felt he was carrying after New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen was fired on Mondayafter the Saints’ seventh straight loss, 23-22 at Carolina on Sunday.

Mathieu, the only member of the Saints’ secondary that started the season opener Sunday, was in a solemn mood as he discussed Allen and a conclusion he wasn’t familiar with.

“First team I’ve ever been on that fired a coach,” he said. “Very, very disappointing.

“Every time you lose as many games as we’ve lost in a row, a lot of questions have to be answered, things have to change. As I told the defensive backs unit: If you don’t feel bad, there’s probably something wrong with you.

“I definitely think defensively, I probably played the biggest part in him getting fired. To go from a very good defense to a defense that is really unrecognizable by our standard is hard.

“And I think defensively we played the biggest part with the way we played, the way we didn’t finish games, tackling has been a problem for us all season. I probably played the biggest part in him not being here anymore. .”

The Saints (2-7) hadn’t lost seven straight since the 1999 season under Mike Ditka; they haven’t lost eight in a row since 1980, when the team lost its first 14 games.

New Orleans will look to end its streak against Atlanta (6-3) on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome.

“We’re 2-7 and our head coach got fired today,” tight end Foster Moreau said. “I will say that overall, every individual in this building has a hand in our record and our performance and why we are what we are.

“Unfortunately, when you’re a head coach and you have the corner office, you’re responsible for results.

“We are in a hole and each man has had a turn holding the shovel. Right now all we’re looking for is a rope and then a bulldozer to try and fill the hole back in so we can start standing. “

The stand will start under Interim coach Darren Rizzi, Saints assistant head coach/special teams coordinator since 2022. Rizzi said he understands the mood of Saints fans.

“I’m upset, the fans should be upset, the people of New Orleans, the people of Louisiana,” Rizzi said. “Nobody should be happy. I think this city deserves a winner, they know what winning football looks like. It’s our job to bring that back.

“I can’t promise them that, (but) I can promise passion, I can promise fight and I can tell you that the team will go there every Sunday and that will be clear, that we will have a team full of passion and a team full of of fighters.

“Now the football has to do better, the execution has to do better. But we won’t be bored watching, that I can promise you.”

Mathieu’s game will help a lot in the goal assist. On Monday, his responsibility shone through.

“(Allen) is a good guy. He’s honest, hardworking,” Mathieu said. “When he came back (to the Saints as defensive coordinator in 2015), you have to realize he inherited a really bad situation defensively.

“I think about everything he’s been able to do, it stands out with Cam (Jordan) and Demario (Davis). By the time DA came back here, those guys really started to excel. It’s tough, but I’m from New Orleans , so I remember when we weren’t very good defensively. What he was able to do for us defensively, I don’t think that should be overlooked or dismissed.

“I take full responsibility, I take full responsibility for the way I played. When I signed here, I signed with a top-five defense. I didn’t always feel like they needed me here, they were good before me. I got here, I guess for the last two years, I haven’t really been Tyrann.

“It’s not my standard, it’s not my way of doing things. I feel stupid about it. I think people work hard all week, they’re minimum wage, just to get to see each other on Sunday for that to be the highlight of the week.

“As a kid, you’d get through the week and then we’d always look forward to Sunday because we knew the Saints were playing and we knew we could go get something to eat. Someone from the neighborhood was watching the match. and they were having an All Saints party.

“I totally feel their frustration. We make a lot of money playing a game. These people, they work so hard to be a part of it, to buy tickets and buy a jersey and just be invested in us. And so when we WIN , we all feel good and I think when we lose, we all feel bad for our fans too.

“It wasn’t really the product they were used to from 2006. That’s part of the story that you want to make sure you finish it right, you do it right. “