SloMotion

Never played FF & never been a big fan of it. I hate it when I'm watching a game and some guy next to me starts talking up some player on another team, in another game. It's distracting. I wanna' shake him and say, "Focus! It's a team sport, not a game of individuals" ... but what can you do?

It's hard for me to believe that some of the things that are done on Sunday/Monday/Thursday are driven by FF and gambling, but they've managed to rig boxing matches, horse races, World Series and other sporting events, so I'm not saying it can't be done, eh?

Crusader

I usually don't play a player on my FF team if his team is playing the Saints. I will never mix allegiances like that an hope another guy does well against the Saints.

lynwood

It's called fighting another day. Brees gets hurt in a meaningless game will be ridiculous.

Danno

We scored 14 points in about 3 minutes late in the 3rd yesterday so I guess you can say nothing's impossible.

Budsdrinker

I hate losing so I'm going to try and score until the final gun.

skymike

I agree that fantasy football is the last thing on these guys minds.

I can go my whole life w/o playing fantasy football, or collecting aps
on some little brain-sucky phone.

neugey

I'm speculating that it has to do with Fantasy points and popularity. I don't know this but I can't come up with anything else. The "never give up" thing is fine for a while, but at times like the end of yesterday's game it gets ridiculous. IMO if you are getting blown out and you know you are going to lose a game, team goals should come ahead of winning the game. Game time is valuable. If you put Chase in during those last 5 minutes and run a balanced offense (calling plays as if the score were 0-0) with Ingram or Cadet in the backfield, you are developing those young players which is good for them and good for the team when they will be needed in the future. That playing time is 100 times for more valuable for Daniel than it is for Brees who has "been there, done that".

I'm a youth basketball coach and I don't like the message the Saints are sending that stats are more important than developing young players. Maybe in a few years Cadet and Daniel are with the Saints or with another NFL team or in the CFL or AFL or something. Yes, the NFL is a business, but don't you want to show them goodwill and demonstrate you did the best you could for them and developed them to the extend that you could? Don't you want to show the future young NFL players that the Saints are a team that cares about all it's players, even if their roles are small? The "never give up" argument is BS, because there is a point when you will know the game is lost and to pretend that it's not, IMO, is being unrealistic and arrogant. Padding stats is vain. That is the vibe the Saints are giving off at the end of games and I find it unsettling.

skymike

no, i think its their job to try to win every game, unless we''ve wrapped up home field for the playoffs. somebody channel Herm Edwards.

Mardigras9

Yes I think your making too much of it. I don't think Brees gives a **** about FF. I don't think Brees would have let himself be taken out of the game. However, from this point on they need to look at splitting time with Chase.

SaintsBro

1. "team goals should come ahead of winning the game" -- the team goal is winning the game, that's why the team exists. To stop fighting is to quit, and quitting is not part of the dictionary for these people.

2. If you put Chase in during those last 5 minutes and run a balanced offense (calling plays as if the score were 0-0) with Ingram or Cadet in the backfield, the other team is going to CLOBBER them and eat Chase alive. This is the pros. They are not going to let up when a young backup player comes in late in the game, they're not going to switch into preseason mode, they are going to double down on attacking him.

3. Plus, even though this was an away game, as a paying customer I do not want to see Chase Daniels "getting reps" or "being groomed" = that's what preseason is for and I already have to pay full price for too many of those as it is. The playing time may be "valuable" for Chase, but not for the ones who are paying a lot of money to watch it in person. Or fans who have maybe traveled or spent a great deal of money to go to road games and see their heroes in faraway places. Terrible message to send to the fans.

4. As far as your idea of evaluation of players, a blowout game is a time when you really get to see what's in the heart of people on your team, their character, what they are made of. Of course sometimes the players are in situations where they're not going to win, and everyone knows it, and it's very ridiculous to look at. But do they lie down, phone it in, or do they go for it, push themselves harder even when the chips are down? This is something you might want to think about with your young players. Because it's very important, not just in football but in many lines of work. It's about looking within. Learning to lose, learning to walk away, learning how to bounce back the next week and come back from a loss or disappointment, learning how to rally and say in the huddle, "guys it doesn't look like it's our day today, but let's try and make this thing look presentable in the scoreboard the next day, let's not let them get out of here without a fight," and blah blah blah. Making sure you give the other guy a black eye, even if you lose the fist fight.



I get where you are coming from, and what you are saying is very noble, I'm glad you are a youth coach, but this is not AT ALL about padding stats or whatever you think it's all about. Your whole second paragraph there is great stuff, for a youth type of coach, doing what you do, which is a great thing. But it is nowhere near the world of what the Saints athletes and professional coaches are thinking.