Saints' Derek Carr compares Darren Rizzi to playoff coach

Current New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr was with the Las Vegas Raiders during the 2021 season when then-interim head coach Rich Bisaccia guided Las Vegas to seven victories over 12 games and to a playoff berth. More recently, Carr played under New Orleans interim head coach Darren Rizzi as Rizzi helped the club earn back-to-back wins that improved it to 4-7 on the season. 

Following New Orleans' 35-14 blowout victory over the lowly Cleveland Browns (2-8) on Sunday, Carr spoke with NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated about how Rizzi is giving the Saints a boost similar to the one Bisaccia offered the Raiders several years ago. 

"He really reminds me of that year I had with Rich," Carr said about Rizzi. "...He came in, put his spin on it and made it feel different so guys could feel something different. That’s what Riz has done. He’s done a really good job of just grabbing the attention of everybody. Real player’s coach. Has our back on everything, the schedule. He listens to us. It’s been really impressive watching him work." 

The Saints began the season with back-to-back double-digit wins but then suffered seven consecutive losses before head coach Dennis Allen was shown the door. Considering it now seems Allen first began losing some members of the locker room going back to January, one can't help but wonder what could have been for the 2024 Saints had the club made a change during the offseason rather than after Week 9. 

Rizzi gave the Saints a so-called "new-coach bump" for the Week 10 game against the rival Atlanta Falcons that New Orleans won 20-17 on Nov. 10. Against the Browns, the Saints scored 21 unanswered fourth-quarter points to cruise to a second straight victory with Rizzi leading the charge. 

New Orleans headed into its bye just two games back of the first-place Falcons in the NFC South standings. As of Monday morning, the NFL's website gave the Saints a 4 percent chance to make the playoffs. 

"Honestly, we have felt the whole time like we are a really good football team," Carr added during his chat with Breer. "The feeling in the building never changed no matter what the week was. You never make excuses. The fact is we had a lot of injuries, a lot of guys out, a lot of guys playing new roles, a lot of stuff happening. We talked about it, D.A. talked about it. You have to weather the storm. We never lost sight that we felt like we were a good football team. We always believed that we were. We’re coming together now."

The Saints next host the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 1. 5-5 Los Angeles welcomes the 8-2 Philadelphia Eagles to SoFi Stadium this coming Sunday night.