Dattitude with Jim Derry

In August, a game in December at home against the Washington Commanders and rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was marked as a sure victory for the New Orleans Saints. My, how 4 months can change things, as the home team currently stands as a 7½-point underdog.

That is the lead topic on Wednesday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 321) presented by Evangeline Securities, as host Jim Derry asks if the Commanders are a model franchise to look to when thinking about the future – or maybe just take pieces from multiple teams. Also, Jim talks to former Saints safety Roman Harper and asks how the team can back to respectability.

Lastly, Franklinton football coach Nick Saltaformaggio again joins the show to discuss his team playing in an LHSAA state title game on Friday, and Gabe Henderson talks about the potential of legendary coach Bill Belichick going to the college ranks at North Carolina.

The good news for the New Orleans Saints from Sunday’s game in the Meadowlands is they won. Yay. The bad news is in one of the NFL’s worst football games of the season, quarterback Derek Carr suffered a likely season-ending injury one week after Taysom Hill did the same.

Who will it be going forward: Jake Haener or Spencer Rattler? Does it even matter? What about interim coach Darren Rizzi? Does his less than awe-inspiring performance eliminate him from contention? If not, will the next 4 weeks do that? Host Jim Derry shares his thoughts in his weekly ‘Derry’s Dime’, and he asks viewers and listeners, as well, what they think on the Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 320) presented by Evangeline Securities in another spirited ‘Mano E Monday’ episode.

Also, we talk about Tulane coach Jon Sumrall announcing he’s staying in New Orleans, although his quarterback Darian Mensah says he’s entering the transfer portal. The Wave will play Florida in the Gasparilla Bowl, while LSU will face off against Baylor in the Texas Bowl on New Year’s Eve. Lastly, Jim and Gabe Henderson offer thoughts on the CFP brackets and whether the committee got it right.

Of course, the 4-8 New Orleans Saints will face the 2-10 New York Giants this Sunday, but we have more important questions than how these teams matchup against one another. The first one is, while we are pretty sure there will be big changes for the Saints in the offseason, do we really know who will be making them? Will it be Mickey Loomis? Does Gayle Benson have other ideas?

Jim Derry asks The Athletic’s Larry Holder for his thoughts, as they get into a deep discussion about what could happen when the middle of January rolls around and the season is over, and they do it on Friday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 319) presented by Evangeline Securities.

Jim also has plenty to say on how Lions coach Dan Campbell could have turned a sure victory into a loss Thursday night at Ford Field against NFC North-rival Green Bay. Also, that style of football might be fun for the casual fan because it’s different and it reminds them of playing Madden Football, but it’s just plain stupid (and psycho).

It's conference championship weekend in college football, so which ones will be the most interesting? Also, can Tulane get past their hiccup last week and win on the road at Army in the American Athletic Conference? What about Texas-Georgia in the SEC? SMU-Clemson in the ACC? Penn State-Oregon in the Big Ten?

We look at them all on Thursday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 318) presented by Evangeline Securities, as Jim Derry brings in Uncle Big Nick and Gabe Henderson to share their thoughts, as well as get their best bets of Friday / Saturday and for Week 14 in the NFL.

Also, Jim touches on the Saints and whether Darren Rizzi has a real chance to win the head coaching job on a permanent basis, and how the team matches up against the Giants this Sunday in the Meadowlands.

We made up a new word on Wednesday, and it seems pretty simple. So we ask our viewers and listeners where the New Orleans Saints rank in the NFL’s “lowerarchy?” There are plenty of teams in worse shape than us, right?

That is the lead topic on Wednesday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 317) presented by Evangeline Securities, as host Jim Derry begins to look ahead to the Saints facing one of those “lower” teams in the New York Giants. Derek Carr or Drew Lock? Alvin Kamara or Tyrone Tracy? Brian Daboll or whoever the next coach of the Saints will be? You get the picture.

Also, Jim is talking about Friday’s LHSAA football semifinals, as this weekend’s winners are headed to the Caesars Superdome for the state championship games next week. One of the 16 coaches joins us, as Franklinton’s Nick Saltaformaggio is here to discuss his Demons, as well as what it’s like to be in the semis with a third different school in 11 years. Jim and Salt also look at the other games in the semis that involve local schools.

It was pretty clear that ‘Rizzmas’ ended Sunday in the Caesars Superdome. It wasn’t just because the New Orleans Saints lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 21-14, but the fact that Mr. Everything, AKA Taysom Hill, was lost for the season (and potentially beyond) with a gruesome knee injury that involved him being removed from the field on a cart.

Indeed, there were plenty of missteps for interim coach Darren Rizzi and the Saints, as they could not take advantage of holding the ball for 13:58 of the first 15 minutes and forcing a shutout of the Rams in the first half for the first time in the Sean McVay era. Instead, it was the visitors who were nearly unstoppable in the second half, and whatever dream of a miracle finish to the season was over.

Host Jim Derry shares his thoughts in his weekly ‘Derry’s Dime’, and he asks viewers and listeners, as well, what they think on the Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 316) presented by Evangeline Securities in another ‘Mano E Monday’ episode. We also talk a bit about LSU’s romp of Oklahoma and the grittiness of quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.

As bad as this season has been, it might be hard for some to believe the New Orleans Saints haven’t lost a football game since Nov. 3. And they can finish off a month-long homestand in style Sunday against Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams.

Will Who Dats still have visions of a Merry Rizzmas in their heads after this one is over? Can the Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill and the Saints running game blow past a porous Rams run defense? What about Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua against the Black and Gold’s 30th-ranked pass defense?

Jim Derry has asks The Athletic’s Larry Holder what he thinks, as the duo previews Sunday’s game on Friday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 315) presented by Evangeline Securities. Jim also reviews Tulane’s loss to Memphis and what that might mean in regards to the Wave’s American Athletic Conference championship game meeting with Army, and we also preview Week 13 in the NFL.

The New Orleans Saints are about to wrap up nearly one full month at home when they host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday. With a win, it would be the first winning streak of the season, and it would make interim coach Darren Rizzi 3-0. What would that do for the fans’ confidence?

Would there be realistic hopes for the remainder of this season? And what about LSU? Has the hate on Coach Brian Kelly been justified or overt the top? Is a potential nine-win season good enough?

Host Jim Derry asks the fans themselves on Wednesday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 314) presented by Evangeline Securities, as he also has a weekly chat with producer Gabe Henderson. Also, Jim talks about Tulane’s success and wonders aloud how long they can hold on to Coach Jon Sumrall, and he looks ahead to the Thursday slate of action in NFL Week 13.

There’s no question the Saints have played like a different team the past couple weeks under interim coach Darren Rizzi. The big question is can they continue the magic after the bye week with games against stiffer competition such as the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers?

Is Jim Derry lightening up on his “0.0 percent chance of making the playoffs?” We’ll find out on Thursday’s Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 313) presented by Evangeline Securities, as he asks the viewers and listeners what they think, as well. Also, Jim talks about LSU and where they stand with Coach Brian Kelly before coming home to play Vanderbilt on Saturday.

We also welcome in Gabe Henderson to hear his top play, as well as Uncle Big Nick and his weekly five best bets. The team also previews Indiana at Ohio State and a few other top games, including Ole Miss vs. Florida in college football and Lions vs. Colts, Ravens vs. Chargers and Packers vs. 49ers in the NFL.

There’s no question that interim coach Darren Rizzi has lit a spark under these current New Orleans Saints. We politely wonder what he lit underneath Taysom Hill, who had well over 200 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in a 35-14 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday in the Superdome.

Also, Derek Carr and Alvin Kamara were fantastic, and we wonder if this can continue for the remainder of the season. That being said, the defense did give up nearly 400 passing yards to Jameis Winston in his return to New Orleans.

Host Jim Derry shares his thoughts in his weekly ‘Derry’s Dime’, and he asks viewers and listeners, as well, what they think on the Dattitude Podcast (Ep. 312) presented by Evangeline Securities in another ‘Mano E Monday’ episode. Gabe Henderson joins the show to discuss LSU’s problems, and we ask if Coach Brian Kelly is in trouble, and whether we think Tulane could beat the Tigers.