Dennis Allen blames Klint Kubiak for Saints' bizarre timeout against Broncos

What about the New Orleans Saints' timeouts before halftime in Thursday night's loss to the Denver Broncos? It was a strange move, with the team trailing by several points and rallying deep in their own territory with just 11 seconds left to play, and it led to some anger among both the fans in attendance and in the broadcast booth; Amazon Prime play-by-play announcer Al Michaels grumbled a bit about having to wait a little longer to check out the catering.

And according to Saints head coach Dennis Allen, it was offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak who signaled a timeout.

“He was a little excited there on the sideline,” Allen said Friday, via Rod Walker of Nola.com. “He and I discussed it. This will no longer be a problem in the future.”

It was a strange moment as the television cameras watched Spencer Rattler mouthing, “What are we doing?” on his way back to the sideline between games. Kubiak tried to get the offense to put up some points before halftime after trailing 16-3 following a Wil Lutz field goal on the previous drive.

But after Rattler gained a single yard on his first pass to Alvin Kamara, followed by a 5-yard pickup on his next checkdown, everyone was ready to just go to the locker room, catch their breath and carry on right where they were had stopped. The Saints would have received the opening kick for the second time after the break anyway.

But under Section 5, Article 1 of the 2024 NFL Rules, assistant coaches like Kubiak are not allowed to call a timeout. not that it stops them from trying:

The referee must stop play while the ball is dead and declare a calculated team time-out if the head coach or a player (not a substitute) requests a time-out from a referee. If an assistant coach signals a time-out and it is accidentally granted, the time-out remains in effect.

Therefore, they need to be clearer about who can request these time off in the future, as Allen said. But that doesn't mean he should ditch his play-caller. Allen didn't have to name anyone, especially since he could have defended his coach and avoided a plea for violating NFL rules, but he chose to do so anyway. The Saints are in a bad spot during their five-game losing streak and look set to be eliminated from the playoffs for their fourth year. Allen could feel the pressure.