I think he made a MISTAKE. Their defense was NOT slowing down and the Saints offense had sputtered in overtime already.

Why not punt and live to die another series of downs. Make the Saints march to a field goal.

If you DO NOT get the 1st down, the Saints are already in field goal range???

He had flashbacks of Drew carving them up there last year..lol

I agree Strato, that was a pure emotional call. He was not going to lose another game by Payton and Brees eating the clock to a field goal. He wanted to finally be the hero.

He was a hero, mine. Thank you Mike Smith.lol

the real kicker is, so what if they make it?
first down on your own 30 yd line, 35 yards from FG range
risk > reward

Play to win, not play not to lose. I was onboard with his decision and was fearful that they would ram it down our throat as they had all day long. Our boys made the stop when it counted, but my confidence in them was not there.

I HATE scary games. I have NEVER screamed at an inanimate object (T.V.) like I did yesterday. Very frustrating.

Alaska

Just play this

Hopefully this will cure him forever of that thing he has about going for it on fourth down against the Saints. He has been doing that so many times against us, and getting away with it a lot of the time, especially in that first Falcons/Saints game in the Superdome last year. Frankly I think it kind of reeks of desperation. You look at the whole series of him vs. Payton and he is clearly getting outcoached.

After a night to think about it and after hearing his and other's explanations it comes down to this:

Fear.

Look, he can talk about "we should be good enough to get a yard" until he's red in the face. He can talk about liking his guys and having faith in them to get it done all he wants.

It's double-speak because he DIDN'T have faith in his guys, in particular his defensive guys. That call wasn't about faith in anything. Instead it was about his fear of Drew Brees and the Saints Offense.

I just think Christmas CAME EARLY!