The Saints held a 41-17 lead with under two minutes remaining in the game and had the ball on the Falcons 1-yard line after an interception. The game was basically over at that point, and the Saints offense lined up in victory formation, implying they were going to wind down the clock. However, instead of taking a knee, which is the standard move in that situation, quarterback Jameis Winston handed the ball off to Jamaal Williams for a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Saints a 48-17 lead.
When the game ended, Smith approached Allen at midfield and had choice words for him. You could read his lips, and microphones caught some of Smith's words.
Arthur Smith and Dennis Allen have a postgame chat 😳 pic.twitter.com/s469d2OcWq
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 7, 2024
"Why the f*** did you do that? That's f***ing b***s***."
With the Falcons finishing up the season at 7-10, Smith is concerned about his job, as rumors have it that he could be fired. However, he was justified for being angry, as the Saints had the game well in hand, and it served no purpose for them to score at that point in the game, other than to make the Falcons look bad. As it turns out, Smith wasn't the only one on the Falcons sideline to lose his temper on Sunday.
Allen seemed to understand Smith's point of view, as he began his postgame press conference with an apology to Smith. However, in an interesting twist, he revealed that the players decided themselves to score the touchdown:
Saints coach Dennis Allen: I’m gonna start by apologizing to Arthur Smith and the Falcons.
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) January 7, 2024
Said they should’ve taken a knee. But guys wanted to get Jamaal Williams a TD and that’s “unacceptable.”
“That’s not who we are, not what we’re about.”
This seemed to imply that quarterback Jameis Winston overruled his coach by scoring the touchdown. Winston confirmed this during a postgame interview, saying that he apologized to Allen but the players made a "team decision" on the field to give Williams an opportunity to score:
Jameis Winston explained how the Saints players made a "team decision" to score a touchdown at the end of the game, while leading 41-17.
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 8, 2024
(via @garlandgillen)pic.twitter.com/o33CsFwMY2
Winston certainly put Allen in an awkward situation. We'll see if this comes back to bite Winston at some point. As for Smith, it seems like he may want to have some words with Winston. Things could be awkward if Smith and Winston ever happen to cross paths in the future.
In the end, the Saints finished the season at 9-8 as they fell short of the playoffs.
