Saints' Darren Rizzi thought 'crappy day' was coming after clogging stadium toilet
New Orleans Saints interim head coach made a good first impression in leading his team to a gritty 20-17 win over the division rival Atlanta Falcons. When speaking to the press before the game, Rizzi offered a bit of an overshare in what he thought would be grim foreshadowing to his first day on the job as head coach, per ESPN's Katherine Terrell.
"Darren Rizzi said he clogged the toilet in the head coach's locker room when he got to the stadium today and thought 'this is going to be a crappy day,'" Terrell continued. "This is the quality reporting yall follow me for."
In a great call-back reference, BetMGM's social team shared this classic NFL meme of Lamar Jackson running to the locker room during a game in 2020, allegedly of course.
The Saints' win ended a seven-game losing streak and improved their record to 3-7.
Saints bounce back under new leadership
New Orleans' defense didn't exactly win this one. The Saints allowed the Falcons to gain 468 yards. Kirk Cousins passed for 306 yards and Bijan Robinson rushed for another 116 yards and two scores. If it weren't for Younghoe Koo missing three field goals, this game would've gone the other way.
However, the Saints found ways to suck the air out of the Falcons' sails, like when John Ridgeway III blocked Koo's field goal just before halftime. Later, Tyrann Mathieu made a critical interception just before the two-minute warning to stall Atlanta's drive in the fourth quarter. Chase Young iced the game with a sack and strip that caused a 19-yard loss with about 30 seconds left in the game.
Atlanta had to use their last timeout and was forced to decide whether to attempt a very long 60-yard field goal or try to make something happen via the pass. They chose wrong, and a short completion to Ray-Ray McCloud III failed to gain a first down as time expired.
The Saints' defensive front was effective in putting pressure on Cousins, sacking him three times and accumulating nine QB hits. Entering the game, New Orleans had 19 sacks, just below league average so an improvement was found at the right time.
Derek Carr was kept upright throughout the game, as the Saints' offensive line didn't allow a sack. Granted, the Falcons' pass rush is the worst in the NFL. And even without most of the wide receiver room, wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling was clutch with three receptions for 109 yards and two touchdowns, including a 67-yard bomb. The 30-year-old receiver accounted for both the Saints first-half touchdowns.
