Dennis Allen gets an audition tonight for his…

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From 2012 and into 2014, Dennis Allen won eight of 36 games as head coach of the Raiders. He gets a chance to get his ninth career win tonight, and it could help Allen get more opportunities to win more games.

On Sunday night, Allen stands in for Sean Payton as the head coach of the Saints, due to Payton’s positive COVID-19 test. If Allen can extend his team’s regular-season winning streak over the Buccaneers to four before a prime-time audience, Allen could attract attention in the coming hiring cycle.

Allen has done an excellent job with the Saints’ defense since arriving in 2015. However, he has not generated much buzz for another crack at becoming a head coach. Perhaps, with a win tonight, he will.

Even if the Saints lose, Allen deserves to get more consideration than he has. In eight days, the window opens for teams with actual or upcoming vacancies to begin interviewing candidates virtually from other teams, with permission of the candidate’s current team.

The extent to which Allen finds himself in demand may ride on the extent to which he can slow down, and outscore, Tom Brady and company on NBC tonight.