Not that he hasn’t earned the mountain of compliments he has received as the New Orleans Saints (11-5), the NFC South Division champions, enter their Wild Card playoff game against Carolina (11-5) on Sunday afternoon in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Allen, who is in his second full season as New Orleans’ defensive coordinator, has helped choreograph a unit that has had a dramatic rise this year.
Last season, the Saints allowed 28.4 points, 375.4 yards per game, Nos. 31 and 27 in the league, respectively, with 30 sacks and 21 turnovers forced. The 2015 season was worse, when Allen took over as defensive coordinator in Week 11 after Rob Ryan was relieved of his duties, and the Saints went on to allow 29.