I understand your point but comparing what Dennis Allen has done to Sean Payton's last year is not apples to apples.

Sean Payton was 9-8 and not with a "better oline".
That "better oline" had the starting five playing a total of 22 snaps together last season. The team set the NFL record for fielding the most starters in a single season and lost their starting quarterback in Week 8 to an injury.

No Wil Lutz might’ve been the biggest blow of all. The trio of Johnson, Aldrick Rosas, and Cody Parkey missed a combined three field goals and five extra points. The Saints lost back-to-back games to the Falcons and Titans, both narrow two-point victories.

They’re not the first team to traverse the pitfalls of replacing a longtime franchise quarterback but they may be the first to start four quarterbacks (after losing their starter in Week 8) behind an injury-riddled offensive line missing both starting tackles and left guard.

For perspective, the Denver Broncos went 6-10 following Elway’s retirement in 1999 and didn’t win another playoff game until 2005. Steve Young retired unexpectedly following a concussion in 1999; the 49ers went 6-10 in 2000 and struggled for years until Jim Harbaugh arrived. Troy Aikman had a great supporting cast and retired on top in 2000. Dallas went 5-11 the next year and floundered until Tony Romo. After going 6-10 following Jim Kelly’s retirement in 1996, the Buffalo Bills had a 17-year postseason drought until Josh Allen showed up in 2018.

These comparisons can never be apples to apples because of roster changes. Sure There were a lot of injuries last year, but having Armstead at all last year and not having Penning at all this year the overall talent dropped. At worst guys like Throckmorton are playing just like last year, so it’s a wash.

Come on. They had a guy start on the O-line on Sunday who was signed off the street on Thursday - even Payton said in an interview that he didn't even know the guy's name.

The injuries and games missed due to the pandemic related stuff were unreal last season, and still they were close to getting into the playoffs - some of the credit for that has to be on coaching/scheming, and especially on SP.

While the debate is interesting, one fact is still missing ... the remainder of the season. Nobody, even the Wizard, knows for sure how the rest of the season will pan out. Until then any comparison of Payton's final season to the first half of Allen's is absolutely apples to oranges.

What?!?!?! No "11-6" declaration from The Almighty, The Great, The All-Knowing, Eternal Optimistic, himself???

LOL! As a matter of fact, as my son and I were leaving the Dome Monday night I told him, "We should still have the division wrapped up at 11-6."

You guys are either missing or avoiding the point I’m trying to make. I wasn’t trying to do an individual comparison of injuries under Payton versus injuries under Allen. Yes, Payton had the Miami game to deal with. That skewed things greatly. But Allen has had close to the same situation and started with a fundamentally less talented team without Marcus Williams, Johnson, Armstead, and Jenkins.

Are you denying that injuries have hit Allen’s team pretty seriously this year? Has he NOT played games without his top QB, Top 3 WRs, Top RBs, Top CBs, and DLs? Seems I remember comments about how long his injury list was not too long ago. It’s tough to coach and win in the NFL when you have a full roster much less a banged up one. Allen has had a mostly banged up one. That is the point I’m making. If you disagree and think injuries and the talent you are able to put on the field don’t matter then fine. I disagree. Having healthy players makes a difference and Allen hasn’t had much of that. Payton would be struggling with this team and it’s injuries the same way he struggled with last year’s team the same way Allen is struggling with it. Could be why he decided to jump ship.