Dennis Allen’s decision to punt reaches ‘99.5th percentile of cowardly punts’
NO decided to punt to CHI from the CHI 39 on 4th & 5 with 1:12 remaining in the 3rd while tied 17 to 17.
With a Surrender Index of 36.25, this punt ranks at the 99.5th percentile of cowardly punts of the 2023 season, and the 98th percentile of all punts since 1999.
— Surrender Index 90 (@surrender_idx90) November 5, 2023
Yeesh. Dennis Allen earned some boos from New Orleans Saints fans late in the third quarter during Sunday’s game with the Chicago Bears, choosing to punt on fourth-and-5 from the Chicago 40-yard line. The score was tied up 17-17.
And the decision drew criticism from the Surrender Index. A metric devised to rate punt decisions based on distance, field position, game score and clock timing, the Surrender Index is used to rate punts around the league based off how aggressive or cowardly they were. And Allen’s choice to punt in this situation hit the 99.5th percentile in the 2023 season, and the 98th percentile dating back to 1999.
It’s right in line for Allen, who would rather put the opposing offense in a tough spot and trust his defense to get a stop than risk a turnover on downs by his offense. Last season he graded out as one of the NFL’s most-cowardly decision-maker on fourth down.
But things worked out this time. Allen’s defense rallied to force their first punt of the afternoon and Rashid Shaheed returned it up to the Chicago 47-yard line. A couple of nice runs by Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill got the Saints into scoring position, and Hill capped the drive by a touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson to take the lead. Allen’s decisions have gotten him burned before, but his conservative call worked out well this time.
