Allen's defense is responsible for Bucs flipping the script against the Saints | Saints

Once upon a time, the New Orleans Saints were a lot like the Glazer family.

The Saints also included the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bucs were the only team the Saints could count on to win.

The streak, which the Saints now lead 40-26, included a six-game Saints winning streak in the 1980s, a seven-game winning streak in the 2010s and seven of eight regular-season wins around the Sean era Payton to finish.

Saints coach Dennis Allen contributed as defensive coordinator and also stepped in as head coach three seasons ago when Payton was in COVID protocol. The Saints scored a 9-0 win against Tom Brady and Co. that day in a game in Tampa.

The Bucs, on the other hand, had never beaten the Saints more than twice in a row in the series that first began in 1977.

Fast forward to the Allen era, and the tables have turned.

The Bucs had their first three-game winning streak against the Saints at the start of the Allen era. Allen's only win over the Bucs came late last season.

Tampa Bay avenged that in convincing fashion on Sunday when Allen lost 4-1 to the Bucs after the 51-27 debacle at Caesars Superdome.

The Bucs handed Allen his worst two losses as a Saints head coach: Sunday's 24-point loss and a 17-point loss (26-9) last season. To make matters worse, both games were played at the Dome, where Allen is now 0-3 against Tampa Bay.

This was the lowest as the Saints not only lost 50 yards, but also allowed the Bucs to gain 594 yards.

Yes, you read that correctly. Five hundred and ninety-four.

Those are the second-most yards allowed in Saints history, just 11 shy of the 605 yards allowed by Daunte Culpepper, Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings against the Saints in 2004.

This time it was Baker Mayfield (325 yards passing), receiver Chris Godwin (125 yards receiving) and running back Sean Tucker (136 yards rushing) who did the damage, as the Saints became only the fifth team in the NFL to History was that 300 yards in passing allowed 275 yards in the same game.

If you include Monday night's loss to the Chiefs, the Saints have allowed 1,054 yards in seven days.

A defense that should be the Saints' bread and butter has turned into butter, and opponents are the knives cutting through the defense as if it wasn't even there.

The Bucs, who trained all week in New Orleans after being evacuated from Florida because of Hurricane Milton, appeared inspired to win for their city.

The Saints defense looked as uninspired as a team can be, especially in the second half, when this game slipped away in much the same way Godwin slipped away on his 55-yard touchdown reception that gave the Bucs the lead.

“Tackling wasn’t the focus today,” Saints safety Johnathan Abram said.

That was it nicely put. The Saints repeatedly failed to make tackles.

“In this football game, sometimes you’re there and sometimes you’re not,” linebacker Willie Gay said. “And today we were definitely wrong with this little detail. Go ahead and do it right next time.”

The good news is that the Saints won't have to wait long to eliminate the bad taste of this game, as Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos come to the Dome on Thursday night. Or is it a good thing? Can the Saints solve the tackle problems in four days?

“It’s something we’d better fix in four days,” Allen said.

If not, the Saints could find themselves on the wrong end of a primetime loss to their former coach, who undoubtedly has this game circled on his calendar.

The wheels haven’t completely fallen off for the Saints this season. But boy, are they feeling shaky after this four-game losing streak. The injuries, particularly on the offensive line, have played a role. But there is no excuse for missed tackles, which can be attributed to both technique and effort.

“Everyone has to look at themselves — coaches, players, everyone — and make sure we do everything we can to get things moving in the right direction,” Allen said. “Because right now it’s not where we want it to be.”

Sunday was a chance for the Saints to get back into the mix of the NFC South race. Instead, the Saints fell two games behind the Bucs and Falcons. They could fall even further behind if they don't get things sorted out by Thursday night.

“The mindset hasn’t changed,” Abram said. “One game doesn’t define us. We just have to get back there and continue to be who we are. Execute and just play together and play for each other. Once we've done our job, it's no longer about who we face. It's all about us. If we can do that, we'll look really good. If we don’t do that, we’ll look really bad.”

That was the case on Sunday. The Bucs made the Saints look really bad.

It was once exactly the opposite.