lapaz2

Y'all still don't get it. If they go for it, and don't make it, then the Saints get the ball on downs. Now if the Saints don't make a 1st down, then at most the Saints would've had to try a 47 yard or longer field goal. So what if the Saints make the field goal. If they don't make a first down, then the Eagles would've gotten the ball back with time to go for the TD. Their is also a chance that the Saints don't risk a field goal.

Now if the Saints get a 1st down no matter where they were on the field, the game was over.

By punting, at best for the Eagles the Saints don't make a 1st down, but they wind the clock down to about 1 min, with no timeouts, and probably punt it deep into Eagle territory.

The smart play is to give yourself a chance for the first down, no matter if it was only a 1 in 20 chance. Giving the Saints a chance for a field goal was not very significant, and when you weigh the way the Saints had been racking up yardage in the 4th, it was definitely not the high percentage play.