Thoughts on Going for it on 4th down in the 3rd
 

Sean Payton is a great coach, and I rarely question any of his play calling. That being said, I do not understand why we went for it on 4th down in the 3rd quarter when we were only down by 8. We had just scored twice in the 3rd quarter, a field goal would have been our 3rd score; we also stopped Green Bay's offense with a 3-and-out. Instead of carrying that momentum into the 4th quarter, we shot ourself in the foot. Even if we were to convert on 4th down and get a 1st down or score, I do not like that call at that particular point in the game given we were only down by 8 and we had the momentum. I swear it seemed like some of Les Miles's stupidity creeped into Payton's head on that one. I still think Payton is a great coach, and I'm not saying we need to fire the guy or that he does not call a good game (i.e., I am not writing a panic post). I just want to know if you guys agree with me or think I'm a ra-tard. Was that a poor play calling?

All coaches handbooks tell you to take the 3 points on the road. But at that time in the game we were running the ball pretty good and that was just a bad play call. That should have been a QB sneek not a roll out pass. I liked the go for it mentality just not the play that was called.

I didn't have an issue with going for it either... I did with the playcalling though.

I was saying in the chat room before I left(I'm bad luck)... sneak sneak.

Oh well.

I wanted them to go for it, but if I knew they were going to dial-up that play...I woulda wanted them to go for the 3. It's really hard to be too down on them, though, because earlier in the game when we had a 3rd and 1, we hit Meach for 6...but that was 3rd down.

They needed to go for it, but the pass was a interesting call. I agree with the sneak or even go back to the run. O well it is what it is.

Always will second guess a call like that doesn't go your way. But I have to agree with anyone who would have gone for the three right there.
We just stopped them, we could have closed the gap, and being on the road against the Superbowl champs? That just what I think we should have done.

At first I thought it was a terrible move, then an hour or so later after the game I saw it for what it was, and I completely changed my mind. It was the right call, because at that point in the game Payton had no choice left but to go for it.

Conventional wisdom says you take the 3 points (and by the way, ol' man Kasay did look pretty solid), and then you're down by only 5. BUT, in last night's game, that 3 points is meaningless, because all night long we saw that the Saints defense COULD NOT STOP THEIR OFFENSE AT ALL. They Saints D had absolutely no answer for anything that Green Bay did on offense. So Kasay kicks the field goal there, it doesn't matter -- the Packers still get the ball back on the kickoff and at that point it already might as well have been 42-30 instead of 35-30. The Saints defense was so non-existent, and so poor, and gave up so many easy touchdowns, that it changed the way the offense had to play, and changed the calls that Payton could make on offense. For the field goal to make any difference, it would have required the defense to MAKE A STOP or GET THE BALL BACK, and by the third quarter of last night everyone with eyeballs could see, the Saints defense were clearly incapable of doing either of those things.

With the tissue paper defense they had out there last night, the only way the Saints could have won this game IMHO was to score a touchdown on every single possession, have zero turnovers, and have the ball last.

That play is where I lost it. I also wanted them to go for it. Even posted it on chat. But as they were lining up, I told my wife that they should go for three, because it would put them within 5 points of Green Bay, and a touchdown would put them ahead. Then they called that stupid play action, or whatever the hell that was. I frikkin blew a gasket. The same exact play they tried on the drive before and lost 20 yards on, and almost got Drew killed. I don't even remember the next 10 or 15 minutes after that play.

We make it, he's a hero. We don't, the call is questioned. That's life.

Sorry buddy but I have to disagree with you somewhat on this one. Of course if we make it he's a hero, but I would still question the call. These two things are not mutually exclusive.

Of course the average fan was probably yelling go for it, but Sean Payton is not a fan, he is a coach (he manages the team) and he has to do on the spot risk analysis. If you're going to go for it, you better have a better play that what we had. I'm not saying better play as in more creative, I mean a better play as in a high probability play. We were already in a bad place; going for it on 4th down when you're only down by 8 at the end of the third quarter is a huge risk, why make the risk even bigger with a bonehead play call.

Totally agree. You could argue for the three points but it wasn't the decision for me, I love our coach and would expect nothing less, but it was the play selection.

I think going for it was the right call, and I was yelling it the whole time...but a pass? C'mon son! Play calling has always been an issue w/Peyton (IMHO). I've always thought that Peyton and Miles think they are too smart for the game, and that's what gets us in trouble a lot.

You trade up to get this awesome back and you don't use him in that situation. I just don't get it. I know the O-line wasn't playing well but you have to show the league that you trust your #1 draft pick in that situation. Why have the stable of running backs if you are not going to use them.

It's like we were watching the Seattle game all over again! Harper can't pass cover, no one can tackle, Drew too scared to get rid of the ball, Colston's still playing like he's either scared or hurt. (and he's been doing that since the Super Bowl)

I don't want to hear anyone saying that I'm not a true fan, it's only game 1, and yada yada yada. If we can get on here and show our devotion by talking about all the good potential they have and praise them all the good we see when they win, then we are just as devoted when we point out the negative things that happen. That's what fans do.

So much for the greatly improved defense. I just pray that they get their crap together because if not its going to be a long season.


WHO DAT?!...SPROLES DAT!

Yeah, I was for kicking the 3 at first, but the fact is Sean had no choice. Our defense couldn't stop Ol Miss, much less the Green Bay Packers. He knew that as well as anybody, so he went for it.

I was/am still very upset with the performance of our defense. Sean's play calling was directly affected by it. Sad times indeed.

The offense was forced into that situation by the defense. How many stops did they generate? I only recall one. The odds are better going for it, maybe 50/50 as opposed to a less than 20% chance of getting a stop.

Everyone can defend the "Sean Payton" nature of the call, or use clever analogies to feel better about it, but it's actually very simple. You take the guaranteed 3 and make it a one score go ahead game. There is no doubt in my mind that our D would've had a stronger morale afterwards and we could've taken that game. That play flat out killed us. Take the three, get a stop, score, ballgame. Payton blew it. And if he wanted to go for it, atleast run the damn ball.

Right call, wrong play. In addition, Brees could see a bad match-up with the D call, why he didn't audible to a better play is befuddling.

Man, I guess if Ambush had not worked out we would all still be calling for SP's head. BTW, we had a similar situation earlier in the game when Drew went deep to Meech on 3rd and 1. Good thing that worked out or we would be questioning that one as well.

You win some you lose some.

I love the fact that they lined up across from a freakin freight train and tried.

That is why I have so much respect for our team.

Not me. I'd still like Sean if ambush had gone the other way.

Sometimes when you gamble you lose.........it's that simple.

Deciding to go for it wasn't the problem.
It was the play used to try it.

In terms of which plays really lost it for us; they were mainly our D on their O. We did not hold them up enough.

In that situation, I'd like to see our offense rush to the line and catch the D off guard.

I have no problem with the decisions or the play calls. same decisions and play calls he made two years ago. The difference is that two years ago, we executed better.

Nobody minded the onside kick in the Superbowl?

And obviously our top two guards needed some creative playcalling as they were having trouble moving Mt Raji...

I'd live and die as a fan of Sean Payton as our Coach than geaux back to the percentage playing of Jim Mora...

I want Sean Mora...best O and D:mrgreen:

So, if we would have made it would you have started a thread saying it was a questionable call and you question Payton as a play caller? I'm pretty sure no one would be talking about it.

Just like always - Hero or Goat :doh:

Can you imagine the second guessing if that play would have cost us the Superbowl? :bng:

I may not have started a thread, but as soon as Drew did not hand the ball off, and it was clear that his intentions were to throw it, I started screaming at the TV "What are you doing!!". So yes, I saw immediately that it was the wrong call, and I would have questioned it, even if he had made a touchdown. And since we tried the exact same play on an earlier drive, and lost 20 yards on that one too...

common logic tells you when u play GB in GB u take the 3. especially in a two possession game

But this is sean we are talking about here. i will yell in the last 1/3 of the year if we are still the worse team in the nfl in short yardage

Call - good.

Execution - poor.

Don’t know why we didn’t take the 3 at that point in the game, which I thought was the turning point. With 3 points that would have dropped their lead to 5 but instead the Packers did a 14pt swung on us. I’m kind of torn because I like the fact we went for it but we left the points and the wrong play was called