The "Fire McMahon" Thread
 

Garbage...his Special Teams are garbage. Today was the last straw for me. 12 men on the field on 4th down to give CIN a first down. ANOTHER kick-off out of bounds. Was it me, or did CIN start around the 40 yard line most of the game?

So far this year, #27 versus punt returns and #19 in kickoff returns. And how 'bout that Cleveland game? That was probably the absolute WORST Special Teams game I've ever seen the Saints play, and that spans about 30 years. Plus they were awful last year and the year before.

Greg McMahon. He is Sean's buddy from the college years from what I gather, but Sean's gotta cut bait. Greggie's only real accomplishments (in my mind) are Morstead's onside kick in the SB and Gleason's blocked punt versus ATL. Overall, there has been WAY more bad than good in the last 5 years. If it wasn't for Morstead being 4th in punt average and 7th in net punting, we'd own the distinction of being the absolute worst Special Teams in the NFL. We simply haven't won the ST battle game-to-game even on a pedestrian level lately.

Wondering why games have been so close with seemingly inferior teams? Special Teams...

Other than this, I'm pretty happy with our Saints...march on to the playoffs!

Something needs to sake that **** up, call that ***** in the office and tell him his ass is on the line

Did you see what SP said to him on that 4th down? If you could read lips he said "Hey, what the EFF HAPPENED ON THAT 4th DOWN!?!?!?!" I think he's pretty pissed about it too ...

But, I don't expect a mid-season change.

Something needs to be done because we are awful on Special Teams. I have never in my life seen a game where the field position was so one sided as it was today. The Bengals had 11 possessions; 8 started at the 40 or better, the other 3 started at the 28, 33, and 34. The Saints had 10 possessions; our best field position was the 34 and had 3 possessions start inside our own 6. I guess if a team is being manhandled and not moving the ball then maybe there would be a huge discrepancy in field position but our offense scored 34 points. The kickoff and punt coverage were both atrocious. Then add on a huge 12 men on the field penalty and poor returns on kickoff and punt returns and you have a horrible effort all around by our Special Teams.

Time to put some starters in on ST if you ask me.

i were'nt saying much on this area of our team but this is not saints football u are all right. even roby's runbacks are less than average. he had this area wrapped up even when he could have loss his job to the guy with all the run back records. this has to be addressed. and its the reason game after game were always in a sh^%thole to start.

Twice I read his lips on that play, and then on the Garrett Hartley seems like he said are you F*^&in kiddin me!!!!!

Garrett Hartley is a waste of space in a Saints uniform, main reason we are not in a better position in the NFC South race. Also the main reason why we didn't go into overtime against the Bengals. I don't think they had faith in him to make it. Drew Brees especially. Brees wanted this win no bull****.

Our special teams is pretty miserable right now. That penalty is absolutely inexcusable. We had them stopped. Specifically, the only thing that excites me about our ST right now is Roby. He may not have had the best game today, but generally he is a lights out gunner and "smart" return man. Rarely afraid to give us the 20 yard line, which really would have helped us today.

Makes you wonder why we spent a R5 pick on a punter that could have been had in FA?

SP will tighten schtuff up in the offseason, especially if it is an unnecessary early offseason.

The fact that Payton made it a point to say that the penalty wasn't Marvin Mitchell's fault says all I need to hear.

McMahon's days are numbered.

Glad I am not the only one who noticed how freaking horrible special teams was yesterday. The field position Cincinnati had throughout the game was a complete joke. No wonder the Saints almost lost the game, if the Bengals weren't so mistake prone the outcome would have been different...

Been calling for a new special teams coach for years. Bring back Bobby April.

Hell yes!

At least we do know Sean Payton isn't afraid of releasing a member of his staff if necessary. It showed me a lot when he released his buddy Gary Gibbs. Not many head coaches have it in them to make difficult decisions. I would assume based on what we have recently witnessed, very safe to assume at the very least the Saints will be looking for an upgrade after the season.

I am digging to find one of the most important stats to me in regards to Special teams.

Opponent starting yard line after a kick off. It seems to me for some reason our opponents usually start their offensive series inside their 30-40 yard lines.

I can find return yards on KO's but that does not tell me much except except how far they can run... If they average 25 yds but are starting in the EndZone, that is not too bad (25 yard line), However if they average 15 yards per return but start from the 20 then that puts them inside the 35 yard line.

After watching a few games this weekend i did notice a trend to kick it short and make the receiver try to catch it on the bouncing roll (long squib)... This is a nifty ploy except our kick off team is so slow they are rarely with in the 25 yard line to try and get the ball back.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2010 SPECIAL TEAMS RATINGS

We are ranked 24th in Special teams.

Teams that have a real chance at the title would eat us alive starting from their own 40 on every possession. We have got to improve our starting position stats if we hope to compete against elite teams. The good teams won't shoot themselves in the foot or squander opportunities to cut off our circulation.

Payton is almost loyal to a fault, however McMahon needs to get his resume together.

Oh man, hot button issue with me...I have been saying all this stuff for a long time...I think people kind of overlooked how bad the special teams were last year, because there was so much smoke and fireworks/excitement with the offense and the defensive takeaways. And the onside kick in the Super Bowl kind of created this "myth" that the Saints were as awesome on special teams as they were in offense and defense....teams have figured out it's just not true.

In fact it very nearly cost us TWICE yesterday in the final seconds. Even after the 12 man penalty, that last Bengal kick return was nearly broken, he went out to what, the 45 or something? If the Bungles hadn't been so incompetent, it would have been VERY possible for them to get a few more yards and then a Hail Mary into the end zone for a TD, that would have killed us with no time left to get the ball back. A playoff caliber team like the Falcons or Packers, they are gonna MAKE that play against us, and it won't be pretty. We just saw what Weems can do to change a game's momentum, against Tampa Bay last night. If we give the ball to the Falcons or Ravens on their 40 every time, or give up an easy TD like that, they will eat our lunch, all day long.

But remember -- right before the playoff run last year, after the Tampa Bay loss, Sean Payton said he was going to personally get involved and make adjustments on special teams. Which included getting more starters involved, and I happen to think he also went in and tweaked the x's and o's as well. And what happened? Against Arizona, Bush finally brought one back to the house for the first time in a long time; Hartley was money all through the post-season; and Pierre Thomas stepped in for an injured Roby and made a crucial kick 40 yard return in overtime that gave us good field position against the Vikes.

So bottom line, it's time for Payton to step in and take control of the special teams situation NOW, before the playoffs. If he does, I will not be nearly as worried about it -- I actually have faith in him as a coach, unlike McMahon.

I'm glad someone finally called him out. The dude needs to go!

This sums up how I feel. We better fix this if we want to have a good shot at the playoffs. Every game for the rest of the season is crucial. Think we can give any of the teams we have left to play that kind of field position and hope to win the game? I don't think so.

I completely agree with this post. Something needs to change and fast. Special Teams are the most underrated and significant aspect of football because they influence field position. The Bengals' average starting position was around their own 40 yard line. Statistically, it becomes way harder to stop an opposing offense if they are starting near mid-field. It seems like our Special Teams last year were way better, were they not?

Not in favor of bringing in an outsider, but I'd be okay if we cut our current special teams staff and let one of our better assistants like Joe Vitt or Curtis Johnson have a promotion and a chance and challenge to get better results.

But it's kind of late now, we should have done this during the bye week.

I've been asking this myself for most of the season. Hartley can't get it to the end zone at all. Are we dead last in touchbacks? The only reason alot of teams are hanging around in games is because we set them up offensively time and time again. Add a couple of first downs to every drive and we'll see a large percentage of scoring disappear.

We don't "fire" McMahon right this minute, but just make him a glorified spectator who gets sideline seats to WATCH games and practices. He does not need to bother with the X's and O's and personnel groupings with Saints football for the rest of the season b/c what he's doing now is an epic failure.

Also, dude needs to return all his paychecks he's gotten since at least the CLE game...

:rolleyes:
Well said.

Yeah, I am waiting practically every day for that article or interview where Sean Payton says he will be making some adjustments to special teams. Because I'm telling you, that's exactly what happened last year... There was an interview he did in early January, it was right after the ST debacle of the Buccaneers game, where he said there were gonna be some changes made on special teams. He obviously rolled up his sleeves and got in there to work on it personally, because next thing you know, Hartley was money again, Bush finally takes one back to the house for the first time in ages, and we were playing really awesomely well on special teams all the way through the playoffs and Super Bowl.



* waits *