The New Orleans Saints have lost seven straight games, just fired head coach Dennis Allen, and are missing a number of significant contributors due to injuries.
Things are looking pretty bleak, but the team hasn’t lost its sense of humor.
Saints Jokingly Respond to Pope Francis’ Accidental Tag
On Tuesday, Pope Francis posted the following message on X (formerly Twitter): “The #Saints are precious pearls and are always living and relevant, because they provide a fascinating commentary on the Gospel. Their lives are an illustration of the Good News that Jesus brought to humanity: God is our Father, who loves everyone with boundless love.”
This obviously has nothing to do with football, but Pope Francis accidentally included the team’s custom hashtag, causing the Saints’ logo to appear in the post:
The #Saints are precious pearls and are always living and relevant, because they provide a fascinating commentary on the Gospel. Their lives are an illustration of the Good News that Jesus brought to humanity: God is our Father, who loves everyone with boundless love.
— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) November 5, 2024
NFL fans took this opportunity to dunk on the Saints and bring up their recent struggles.
It didn’t take long for the post to go viral; it currently has 9.6 million views, with a ton of quote tweets and replies.
The Saints saw it and decided to post a self-deprecating response, thanking the Pope for the much-needed prayers.
Thank you for your prayers, Pontiff
We need them 🙏 https://t.co/8SiwDFUHm7 pic.twitter.com/PVdT2LP1bt
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) November 5, 2024
Many fans were surprised that the team’s official account was being so candid, but the social media team was clearly just trying to get in on the joke.
The Saints will try to turn their season around under interim Darren Rizzi, who was previously the team’s assistant head coach and special teams coordinator. This Sunday, New Orleans will face the Atlanta Falcons, who are 6-3 and atop the NFC South.
Since outscoring opponents 91-29 (+62) during their 2-0 start, the Saints have been outscored 200-116 (-84) during their seven-game losing streak — their worst skid in 25 years. Since Week 3, the Saints have the NFL’s sixth-worst offense in terms of yards per play.
During the Saints’ seven-game losing streak, three of the seven losses were by a field goal or less. The longest losing streak in franchise history was 14 straight losses in 1980.
The Saints are such a mess. About $60M over the cap next year. They only have two players who will save more than $3M if cut and 6 if increased to $2M. They need a few players to retire and Derek Carr to agree to help them out.
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) November 4, 2024
As if things weren’t bad enough, New Orleans is in cap hell for the foreseeable future; they are currently $68.4 million over the cap in 2025, with no obvious ways to get out of this mess.
Keep praying, Saints fans.