Payton proves he's on top of his game
 

We have often written about Bill Belichick as a difference maker. We’ve described the edge the Patriots coach provides just by standing on the sideline each week.

New Orleans also has a coach who fits a similar profile. If anyone didn’t know how much Sean Payton means to the Saints, it’s become quite evident this season.

After missing the entire 2012 season, serving time for the suspension he received for his part in the Bountygate scandal, we’ve gotten a pretty good idea just how important Payton is to the success of that team. Without him, the Saints went 7-9. Now, they’re back where they left off when he was at the helm. They’re contenders and among the NFL’s elite, having gone undefeated through the first five games of the season.

Former Patriots and Saints fullback Heath Evans has a first-hand take on why Payton has such an impact.

“I think the main thing they missed without him last year was accountability,” said Evans, now an NFL Network analyst. “From my experience, if you screwed up, Bill (Belichick) would meet you out at the numbers and tell you about it. And Sean has that same disposition. Other coaches will correct mistakes, but there’s a difference in personalities. Guys like Sean and Bill, I guess you might say they attack you, but they attack you with purpose. It’s not just berating you, and (cursing at) you. It’s accountability that you almost feel indebted to them somehow. You don’t want to mess up for them.

“And I just think when a head man like that goes missing, a lot of that goes by the wayside.

”Former NFL head coach Herm Edwards appreciates what Payton brings to the table.

“Obviously, he has a lot of respect from the players. They respect his leadership, his vision. They understand he has a certain way and purpose of how the organization is going to be run,” said Edwards, an ESPN analyst. “They missed him last year. There’s no doubt about that, and it’s showing up and speaking dividends this year, not only on the offensive side of it, but the defensive side.

”While Payton is known primarily as an offensive mastermind, Evans believes the addition of defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, and Payton’s handling of him, has also been key to this year’s turnaround.

“Rob has always been great at putting guys in position. That’s been his knack. Rex (Ryan, his brother) is the same way,” Evans said. “Their defensive schemes and their understanding of what offenses are trying to do are second to none. They’re great coaches. but I think Sean has made Rob even better, because he’s made the game plan simple enough where Rob’s strengths come out and the strengths of all the defenders come out.

”Edwards said Payton is a “risk-taker” and players enjoy playing for coaches like that.

“He’s a guy when it comes to the game, he’s going to take some chances,” Edwards said. “He believes in his players. And the players appreciate that.

”Edwards considers Payton a great offensive play-caller, constantly getting his players in the matchups he prefers.

“This game is about matchups. He knows your weaknesses, and he’ll find different ways to attack it,” Edwards said. “Once he figures it out, he’ll attack it in a bunch of ways.

”Like Belichick, Payton is a disciple of Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells. He worked with the Tuna in Dallas before taking the head coaching job in New Orleans.

“The level of expectation for both of those men is very similar in a sense of what they expect from their players, and how they prepare their players,” Evans said of Belichick and Payton. “Bill gives you more crap Monday to Saturday. Sean gives you more crap on Sunday.

”Both have also found great quarterbacks to lead their teams in Tom Brady and Drew Brees. That certainly helps. The 34-year-old Saints quarterback knows the difference this year, as opposed to last. He’s glad to have his head coach back.

“He’s our lead man,” Brees told the Huffington Post after the Saints’ 38-17 win over the Bears last Sunday. “I tell you what, from the moment he stepped back in the facility in April, he’s been locked in. He’s never let an opportunity go by without communicating a message. He has not let anything go unsaid.

Perfection in passing

Patriots historian Bob Hyldburg dialed back to the last time the team played the Saints, which was in 2009.

In that game, Brees recorded a perfect passer rating of 158.3, which is the only time has he accomplished that feat. Brady has done it twice, in the Patriots’ 49-28 win over Miami (Dec. 21, 2007) and in their 45-24 win over the Lions (Nov. 25, 2010). Drew Bledsoe did it once during his rookie year in the Patriots’ 38-0 shutout of the Colts (Dec. 26, 1993) and Steve Grogan had a perfect passer rating in a 55-21 rout of the Jets (Nov. 29, 1978).Overall, 35 quarterbacks have logged a perfect passer rating since it became an official statistic in 1973.

The Patriots defense has allowed five quarterbacks to achieve a perfect rating in a regular-season game: Bob Griese (on Dec. 18, 1978), Steve Young (Oct. 22, 1989), Ken O’Brien (Dec. 23 1990), Manning (Oct. 22, 2000) and Brees (Nov. 30, 2009). -

Payton proves he's on top of his game | Boston Herald

Re: Payton proves he's on top of his game
 

Payton could teach business and government leaders a thing or two about Leadership.