Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images Your one stop shop for all major NFL power rankings. On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints concluded their 2023 regular season, finishing 9-8 and 2nd in the NFC south. Let’s take a look at how five different national power rankings view the Saints after it’s all said and done. NFL.com - 15 (+2) “A game that should have given Dennis Allen a chance to be proud of his team, even as the Saints missed the postseason, ended in a moment that seemingly called into question his control of the locker room. When Jameis Winston went rogue on the Saints’ final play of the blowout of the Falcons, calling for Jamaal Williams to score instead of taking a knee as Allen wanted, he set off a mini-firestorm about Allen and his command of the team. Winston said it was “a team decision,” admitting he and his teammates overruled their coach. Perhaps this story would have withered on the vine had New Orleans made the playoffs, but that’s not what happened. Allen’s group played pretty well down the stretch, and he’ll be back next season. Allen also said there was no “fracture” within the team. But that wasn’t exactly the ideal beginning to the offseason.” Yahoo Sports - 19 (+1) “The Saints were frustrating to the end. They played their two best games right at the end, and it wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs. It makes you wonder why they couldn’t play like that before Week 17. At least there can be some renewed confidence in Derek Carr, who had six touchdowns and no interceptions over the final two weeks while completing better than 75% of his passes.” Bleacher Report - 16 (+1) “The bad news for the New Orleans Saints is that by virtue of Tampa’s win over the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay’s victory over the Chicago Bears, there will be no playoffs in the Big Easy this season. The good news is Derek Carr and the Saints finished the season strong. The quarterback threw four touchdown passes in a blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons that gave the Saints four wins in their last five games to close the season with an above .500 record. Carr told reporters that while missing the postseason is unfortunate, the team’s late surge offers the team something to build on for next year. ‘It feels great because I think we proved over the last two months, like, it’s not a fluke,’ he said of the Saints’ production on offense. ‘We all wanted it sooner. We all wanted it to look like that all the time,’ Carr added. ‘But hopefully this last half of the year has shown that this is what we can be going forward.’ The Saints have a solid defense, eighth in the league in points per game allowed. If Carr and the offense can play consistently next year like they did down the stretch, New Orleans could enter 2024 as the favorites in the NFC South.” CBS Sports - 16 (0) “They won their last two games, which will likely save Dennis Allen’s job. But they have some age starting to become an issue on the roster.” Sports Illustrated - 17 (N/A) “I remember watching seminal moments of news and entertainment with my parents on television. Whether it was the Ford Bronco chase, or some famous trial, or the final episode of Seinfeld, I have very distinct sensory reactions tied to those moments. Similarly, I don’t think I will ever forget where I was when I saw this. Here is Jameis Winston having one of the strangest back-and-forths with another human being I have ever seen. I wanted it to end almost immediately, but I also wanted to pay both of them $1,000 to talk on a podcast for an hour.” Source: https://www.canalstreetchronicles.com/2 ... lar-season
