New Orleans Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi made a somewhat surprising claim about his team’s defense on the play that allowed Mike Evans to cross the 1,000-yard mark for an 11th consecutive season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ran one final play to get Evans the five yards he needed to keep his streak alive late in Sunday’s win, even though the game was over and they could have kneeled on the ball to close things out. The Saints certainly looked like they didn’t make much of an effort to defend Evans, who made the catch and picked up the yardage fairly easily.
Many felt that the Saints had intentionally played off Evans to allow him to achieve his milestone. Rizzi, however, said the Saints had actually sought to double-team Evans, and that he had tried to call timeout when he saw that the coverage was wrong.
Rizzi said that he tried to call timeout before the play when he saw they weren't doubling him. https://t.co/PwjFIu9GyF
— John Hendrix (@JohnJHendrix) January 6, 2025
Rizzi could be doing a bit of posturing here. The majority of the Saints’ sideline can be seen in video of the play, and nobody is making any attempt to call for a timeout at any point prior to the snap.
It is certainly possible that Rizzi is telling the truth, and his players either screwed up the coverage or went rogue to allow Evans to achieve the mark. There is actually some precedent for the latter scenario. It is also possible that Rizzi is saving face a bit, as it is not necessarily a great look to be conceding records for any reason.
Rizzi is expected to be a candidate to land the Saints job permanently, but is not necessarily seen as the favorite.
