TAMPA, Fla. — Dennis Allen gave the game ball to the entire team.
He really should've kept it for himself.
The Saints' defensive coordinator, pushed into head coaching duties after Sean Payton tested positive for COVID on Friday, got yet another lights out performance from his defense.
The game ball that he deserves to put on a mantle in his home never crossed the goal line on this night.
It only sailed through the uprights three times, all off the foot of Saints kicker Brett Maher in this stunning 9-0 victory.
Allen's defense held Tom Brady scoreless, something no team has done to the future first ballot Hall of Famer since 2006.
On a night when the Saints' offense couldn't get much going, it didn't have to.
The defense shouldered the load, much like it will have to do if the Saints have any chance of making a playoff push.
For the second straight week, the Saints didn't allow a touchdown.
Last week was a 30-9 victory over the lowly Jets.
The Bucs are a long way from the Jets.
Last season's Super Bowl champs came in as one of the best teams in the league.
You wouldn't have known it by the way the way the Saints' defense kept them in check.
The Bucs were held to just 134 yards in the first half.
They sacked Brady four times, including two by Cam Jordan. It was the first ever that a team leading the league in scoring was shut out at home in December or January. EVER.
"Defensively, I thought we were really good," Allen said. "This wasn't about scheme. This was about executing."
The Bucs, who would have clinched the NFC South crown with a win, will have to wait another day for that.
The Saints improved to 7-7 and now all of a sudden the postseason looks a whole lot more realistic.
The offense still has to get better, but this defense is good enough to at least keep the Saints in games that they probably shouldn't be in. The folks in Vegas had the Saints as double digit underdogs, but Saints defensive back Chauncey-Gardner Johnson told us earlier in the week what he thought about what the oddsmakers think.
"I don't care if we're 100-point underdogs," Gardner-Johnson said on Thursday.
"We were underdogs last game. What did that mean? This group won a lot of games as underdogs. So, underdog is just a word. A lot of underdogs take out the big dogs."
That was the case on this night as the Saints beat the Bucs for the seventh straight time in the regular season.
Gardner-Johnson intercepted Brady for the second straight game. By then, most of the folks in the sea of red in Raymond James Stadium had already made their way to the exits.
For Allen, it was his first victory as a head coach since 2013 when he was leading the then-Oakland Raiders. He went 0-4 to start the 2014 season before being let go.
Perhaps he'll get another shot as head coach someday.
But for now, he's the piece the Saints need. He did just fine pulling double duty on Sunday night.
"I relish that opportunity," Allen said. "I appreciate everything Sean Payton has meant in my coaching career. He had the faith in me to lead this team."
Perhaps Allen should ask Payton to see if the Saints can play the rest of their games in Florida.
There is just something about going to the Sunshine State that seems to bring out the best in Allen's unit.
In the season opener, they went to Jacksonville in a game that was moved from the Superdome because of Hurricane Ida and beat Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers 38-3. That's the exact same score the Saints won by when they played the Bucs in Tampa last season. The Saints have five interceptions and seven sacks in the three games this season against Brady and Rodgers.
Sunday's triumph was the Saints' first shutout since beating the Miami Dolphins 20-0 in 2017. That game also would have been in Florida, but was played in London as one of the NFL's international games.
By the way, the Dolphins are the Saints' next opponent, coming to the Dome next Monday night riding a six-game winning streak.
If Allen's unit played like it did Sunday night, that streak won't get to seven.
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Rod Walker: Dennis Allen filled in for Sean Payton. His defense did the rest. - NOLA.com
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