Sean Payton’s Coach of the Year odds have plummeted
By Kristen Wong
No one doubts that New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton is one of the greatest play-callers of all time. He’s just not the greatest this year.
Two weeks ago, Payton had +1400 odds of winning Coach of the Year, which we considered slightly insulting to the 15-year Saints’ guru.
At the time, the Saints were 5-2 and primed to make an underdog run to potentially steal the NFC South title from the Bucs.
According to WynnBET, Sean Payton’s odds of winning Coach of the Year in 2021 are now +4000, tied with Ravens’ John Harbaugh.
The favorite is Cardinals’ Kliff Kingsbury (+400) followed by Patriots’ Bill Belichick (+500) and Titans’ Mike Vrabel (+600).
The coaches from the Chargers, Rams, Packers, Bengals, and Colts are also ahead of Payton; Dallas’ Mike McCarthy’s odds took a dip after the Cowboys’ recent loss, as did Buffalo’s Sean McDermott’s odds, but both are still up there.
Basically, Payton has fallen to the middle of the pack, and it makes a lot of sense.
New Orleans Saints’ Sean Payton is no longer a serious contender for COTY
The 5-5 Saints are nothing to write home about. They’re not worth the paper, the pen, the envelope, or the postage — they’re one of the most uninspiring teams in the league after 11 weeks.
The offense has looked alive….in the fourth quarter. Payton’s decision not to pick up a wide receiver this offseason (or a cornerback, for that matter) is starting to hurt the Saints at the worst possible time. Injuries, too, have affected New Orleans’ performances in recent weeks, but the Saints are by no means the most decimated team.
Take Harbaugh’s Ravens, for example. Kicked to the curb early on with a slew of offseason injuries impacting nearly every unit, yet Baltimore is 7-3 and at the top of their division.
No excuses can be made here.
Payton has a history of turning run-of-the-mill quarterback workhorses into regular season winning stallions, but that tradition may stop with Trevor Siemian. Some quarterbacks, as Payton may soon find out, weren’t meant to be good, much less great. They’re just okay. (Sorry, Siemian.)
Despite a few questionable calls, Payton remains the loyal face and competent leader of the franchise and, for the most part, is loved by fans. Job security isn’t a concern. (Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor, who has higher odds to win COTY at +1500, is much more likely to drive his team’s season into the ground and lose his job.)
But Payton hasn’t exactly had a positive effect on the Saints in these last three weeks, what with their lackluster starting offensive drives, sloppy miscues, and lack of passion overall.
The Saints are in a rut in 2021 — one that may be too deep for even Payton to get out of.
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If the Saints can thwart the Bills and Cowboys in their next two games, Payton’s odds will substantially increase. But that’s a huge if.