The New Orleans Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen on Monday following a 23-22 loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers. That also eliminated 20.9% of the Circa Survivor entries.
Forty contestants relied on a Saints team that had lost six consecutive games coming into Sunday to come through in the Las Vegas sportsbook’s lose-and-you're-out NFL contest. Instead, the New Orleans loss ended their chance at the $14.26 million prize pool, leaving just 1% remaining to compete.
Only 151 entries from the 14,266 contestants that started in Week 1 are alive heading into Monday Night Football. Carolina’s second win of 2024 helped boost the implied value per entry by nearly $20,000 to $94,476.
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Week 9 Selections
📄 Complete selections: https://t.co/Yxf3u0o1oj pic.twitter.com/u0GKMeQtWn
The largest field in the contest’s five-year history paid $1,000 each to enter Circa Survivor. The contest lasts 20 weeks as games during Thanksgiving and Christmas are broken up into separate weeks. Participants can only pick one team to win once.
Unlikely upset
No one left in the contest has picked the Panthers yet and likely won’t unless they have no choice. Carolina won outright as a +275 underdog, easily covering the 7.5-point spread as well on Sunday afternoon.
Led by second-year quarterback Bryce Young, the Panthers were the last team in the NFL to reach two wins and needed a late fourth-quarter rally to end their five-game losing skid.
The Saints, who beat the Panthers 47-10 in Week 1, haven’t won an NFL game since Week 2. The seventh consecutive loss led to Saints owner Gayle Benson to make a “tough” decision to fire Allen, who went 18-25 in 43 games as head coach of the franchise.
"However, this decision is something that I felt we needed to make at this time,” Benson said in a statement. "I wish nothing but the best in the future for Dennis and his family. He will always be considered in the highest regard by me and everyone within our organization."
Bengals come through
In a contest filled with early-season carnage, the NFL’s Week 9 produced the most in several weeks. Only 23 entries spread across several teams were eliminated in Week 8 with losses by the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets knocking out seven participants each.
In Week 9, the Saints were the only team to do any damage to the field so far. There are nine participants relying on the Kansas City Chiefs, a 9-point favorite, to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday.
The Bengals, a team that ravaged the field early in the season, were the most-picked team to survive Week 9, helping 44 entries advance with an easy 41-24 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. The Saints were the second-most picked team, while 39 participants enjoyed a no-sweat, 41-10 win by the Baltimore Ravens over the Denver Broncos.
The Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles got a combined 40 entries through Week 9 while a late 61-yard field goal won a thriller for the Buffalo Bills and advanced another 14 participants.
