The New Orleans Saints comfortably defeated the Atlanta Falcons in their final game of the regular season, running up the score en route to a 48-17 victory. This led to a rather uncomfortable post-game interaction between Saints’ head coach Dennis Allen and Falcons’ head coach Arthur Smith that featured some colorful language that was picked up on the broadcast.
Allen and the Saints broke a bit of an unwritten rule at the end of the game. New Orleans had the ball on the Falcons’ one-yard line with 1:13 remaining in the game, and opted to run the ball instead of simply kneeling it down and running the clock out, which the Falcons defense appeared to be more than content with.
Backup running back Jamaal Williams would end up converting on a one-yard touchdown run, his only rushing touchdown of the season.
Take it away Jamaal 😏#Saints | 📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/L8vZjocAzQ
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) January 7, 2024
After the game, the two head coaches would meet at midfield as usual. But this was anything but a typical midfield interaction from Smith and Allen.
CBS play-by-play man Andrew Catalon detailed the interaction beautifully as Smith walked over to speak with Allen, as it was pretty clear right away that Smith was upset with this late-game touchdown decision.
“Oh and Arthur Smith is hot that Dennis Allen scored a touchdown at the end,” said Catalon. “He is hot, he said what are you doing and is going at Dennis Allen. You can read his lips.”
Well, viewers at home didn’t need to read Smith’s lips to understand how he felt, as an F-bomb slipped through on the broadcast.
“That’s f****** bull****,” said Smith as he walked away from Allen.
Arthur Smith was not happy with Dennis Allen after the Falcons-Saints game.
Here's how it looked — and sounded — on CBS (with Andrew Catalon on play-by-play). 🏈🤬https://t.co/x1Jnawnq2t
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 7, 2024
Allen appeared to say that he “understands” Smith’s frustration, which makes the decision to actually score the touchdown even more bizarre. It appears as though the New Orleans players might have gone rogue.
Regardless, fans at home got to hear one of the most tense meetings between coaches at midfield all season long. And it is safe to say that there is no love lost between these two NFC South rivals heading into the 2024 season.
[Awful Announcing on Twitter/X, Photo Credit: CBS]
