Report: The Saints are firing Rob Ryan

Abysmal. Atrocious. Embarrassing. Disappointing. These are just a select few words to describe the state of the New Orleans Saints defense right now. Yesterday’s 47-14 thrashing to the Washington Redskins essentially sunk any hope that was left in the 2015 season. Sure, let’s just say there’s six games left in the year, but nothing about yesterday’s performance indicates that the team is heading anywhere. We thought quarterback Drew Brees getting injured against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the lowest point of the year, and now it seems like it’s laughable.

The writing is on the wall in New Orleans: Rob Ryan needs to go. Today, the fans might just get their wish. FOX Sports NFL Insider Alex Marvez is reporting that the Saints are parting ways with Rob Ryan.

Honestly, I don’t need to throw all sorts of depressing statistics at you to make you understand why Ryan’s tenure in New Orleans should be up. I already did that last week. Here’s a host of articles that unanimously cast their vote for Ryan to be cast out of the Crescent City:

• It’s Time for Saints to FIRE Rob Ryan (Big Easy Believer)
• After the Saints defense gets exposed again, major change must be coming soon (The Advocate)
• Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan must go — and he must go now (The Times-Picayune)
• NFL morning after: Rob Ryan and the worst pass defense ever (NBC Sports)
• Forecast: Have we seen the last of Rob Ryan? (WWL)
• Rob Ryan doesn’t deserve all the blame, but Saints need radical change (ESPN)
• Saints need to relieve Ryan of his duties (Sports Blog)
• New Orleans Saints out of Reasons to Stand by Rob Ryan (Bleacher Report)

The reality is that Rob Ryan’s chances are up in New Orleans, and if head coach Sean Payton truly runs the team with the iron fist that he reportedly has, then he must pull the trigger on this move.

The Saints have catered to Ryan, committing to fix the complexities on defensive play-calling. Furthermore, Ryan was loaded up in the way of free agency and the draft. The Saints dished 6 of their 9 draft picks to defensive players, and then originally brought in an additional 6 undrafted rookie free agents. A flashy free agent addition of Brandon Browner, a two-time Super Bowl winner, has considerably failed. The team rolled the dice on injury prone players, and it’s come back to bite them.

The sad part in this all is that no one is certain that anything will get fixed. Discipline coaches Dennis Allen, Joe Vitt, and Bill Johnson all absorb blame in Ryan’s demise, but we all know Ryan is the fall guy.

Payton didn’t publicly say that Ryan was fired at his Monday morning press conference, and said that there were no staff changes at this time. In fact, Payton said that Ryan was ‘absolutely’ still his defensive coordinator. Payton said they’ll (him and general manager Mickey Loomis) evaluate things today.