Payton "very upset"
 

The game was tough to watch from a fans stand-point. The display on the field from the players was awful.

F grade for the team. Blatant fouls on the team and Jimmy arguing with Payton on the sideline.

Not only was the discipline poor but the defense was absolutely awful, they allowed a 77% completion percentage along with over 400 yards. Listen, I know we were missing some key people but we thought we had depth and beyond that we we're not playing any stars out there.

Sean Payton upset with penalty-plagued win

Very tough game to watch. My concerns moving forward:
1. Our defense; are they as good as we thought?
2. Discipline; are we going to play like a championship team? No way the Patriots would put this kind of display out there.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

I love our coach. You know when hes mad like that, s**t gonna happen. He must have been getting a little soft on them. Time to bring back that fire from when he first got here. We have way to much talent on this team to let it get out of control.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

I love this. Coach isnt gonna let this team believe the hype or rest on last year's defensive laurels. It's a new season and the players will have to prove everything out on the field. Jimmy Graham... i hope those TD dunks stop during regular season. We can't afford those 15 yd penalties

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Weren't some of us "hair on fire" last year when we had a bad preseason game? True nothing like 22 penalties but I am confident SP will clear this up,over the next few weeks.
Now time for Jimmy to start acting lie an adult and stop dunking the ball. Why not a free throw over the goal post. Or an awesome skyhook?

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Or why not be like Colston and act like you've been there before.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Do you know how is it like to be there?

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Is that a rhetorical question or just an attempt at being an ass?

You don't need to be in someone's shoes to judge their actions. There is such a thing as right and wrong.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Those would draw a flag as well under the new rule. The ball cannot be used as a prop at all.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Yea I was really not impressed with our overall defense. Granted we did cause a couple of turnovers. I have always said we will probably take a few steps back on defense from last year. Even with all the new talent going from worst ever to top 5 over the course of one season is damn near impossible. I didn't think they would look this bad though.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

They'll pay for it this week. I don't mind the dunking. Especially in preseason. He'll have one "after practice practice" this week. As I'm sure everyone will.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

As long as he doesn't get us penalized during the regular season, I don't really care.

It's preseason football. Unless there are injuries, I make little to nothing of it. Preseason is hardly a precursor or forecast to what the regular season will bring.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

This is the nail on the head. Let the vets get a few good plays and a couple good hits, evaluate your new guys and pray for no injuries. How many penalties will be eliminated simply from having Drew Brees back under center? I think its possible that behind closed doors Payton never even mentioned the penalties.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

The team looked sloppy in general

Way too many penalties obviously
Cooks dropping that long TD pass which suprised me a lot
Our secondary getting gashed for some big gains
Running game not particularly effective

A lot of stuff we need to work on

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Special teams still needs a lot of work.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

It is a question, plain and simple. Do you know what's like to be there? How did you act when you were there?

"Act like you were there before".. what does that even mean? That you should not show emotion? Because...? As far as I can tell, Jimmy acted the very same way he has acted when he's been there the past 3 years, to the cheers of the crowd.

I was entertained.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Then why isn't spiking the ball a penalty; the ball is being used as a prop?

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

I see the point those who are really concerned.

I , like others, see preseason as it is which is a warm up. Chance to test out plays and routes and players. Coaches test themselves as well during preseason.
It is the only time to really just have a game night out and watch for fun.

If they or any team wins preseson, whoop-pee!!
It is not a precursor to what is to come one way or another.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Don't worry. If Graham does it once when it counts, he will be on the bench the remainder of the game to set an example.

Payton don't play that.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

FIFY

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Any celebration involving the ball is going to be a penalty this year. Graham needs to take notes on what Colston does after a touchdown. Act like you've done it before.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

It's been an ongoing project since Greg McMahon took over as Special Teams Coordinator. In fairness, he still needs time to implement his schemes and put the right players in the right position to succeed. Apparently, it takes 5+ years to accomplish this as he only took over to start the 2008 season.

Last night TEN averaged 27.5 yards per kick-off return. STL had 26.8 last week. Let's not forget the fake punt pulled by STL, either.

And I honestly can't remember the last time the Saints stopped a fake punt since 2008, or can't remember a blocked punt or kick after that epic 2006 MNF game.

This suck clown of a coordinator is a sore subject with me, obviously. If we didn't have Morstead, we'd be right properly ----ed.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

The discipline was bad. The effort was spotty at best. Graham shouldn't have dunked it twice. The OL play was not great. Lewis being injured regardless of how small is not good. The LB's look very average.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Well..... if discipline is our problem and our coach is making a big deal about it, then we're on the right path. This is preseason. If discipline and self control are your biggest concerns in preseason, then you're doing pretty good.

Lord knows this team does NOT want for talent at most positions. Now our defense is starting to stack up!

I do agree our weakest link is our Special Teams. Barry is right, our kick return coverage has been crap since our SuperBowl season, at least. I agree we probably need a Special Teams coaching change at the earliest time possible.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Jimmy is too big for his britches. Someone is gonna put him on his ass pretty soon. He's drawing too much attention, where once he was quietly confident and talented, he's about to become a prima-donna.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

I have to wonder why that describes most players out of the Miami Hurricanes system. Do they go to a class that teaches them how to be a self-centered jerk?

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Graham is just one of those high intensity players. And although he achieved nothing against Seattle last year, he was mixing it up with their players before the game.

He a pilot. He feeds off adrenaline.

He wont do it during the regular season. I'm fairly certain of that. Preseason? He'll take his lumps if he can get the crowd riled up.

He's the best TE in the game. I'll take his immaturity with his excellent abilities.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

If you haven't noticed, he has done 41 times before Friday night, and acted the exact same way he did the previous 41 times. Did you cheer the other 41 times?

Seriously y'all bunch of Goodells, stop it. It is preseason. Win or lose in preseason, it don't count on the regular season standings or the playoffs. Jimmy put up a show for the crowd. End of story.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

It was a real stinker all around. few bright spots for a couple guys fighting to make the team.

next game should be all hands on deck then i will judge the state of affairs.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

It's time for Grambeaux to move on and come up with another TD celebration. His first down one will do for now.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2014/0211...kh_576x324.jpg

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

I think this is worth repeating... emphasis mine...

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

If you haven't noticed, what he did was legal those 41 times and didn't cost the Saints field position and touchdowns. All of a sudden he seems to think the rules no longer apply to him. Don't get me wrong, I love Jimmy Graham but he needs to come up with another "signature" celebration move... and above all, obey the coach's orders. If Sean orders Jimmy to do the funky chicken after a touchdown, DO IT!

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

All of a sudden, you seem to think he thinks the rules don't apply to him because he wanted to please the crowd in a stanndings-wise meaningless game.

Again, preseason. It costs the team NOTHING. A penalty could be assessed for 100 yds and turn into 35 points worth of TDs, and guess what? The team still travels to Atlanta on September 7 with a 0-0-0 record.

And, as a matter of fact, one could argue that getting in that type of situation now, when neither the final score or the win-lose ratio counts for anything, is beneficial to the evaluation of special teams. Do any of the kickers have enough leg to compensate for such penalties? Can ST cover such ground and prevent a long gain from a returner with a head of steam and good field vision?

And before you reply with "we won't be in that situation during the regular season if Jimmy doesn't dunk" or such penalty coming from any sort of celebration: imagine a TD, followed by a scrum because of a cheap shot to Drew and his o-line going to his defense, and the refs throwing the flag against the Saints only.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

I never would have imagined Jimmy and Payton hollering at each other. It is Paytons obligation to get on players whose actions are detrimental to the team. Jimmy has no excuse to trade words with his coach. Jimmy may resent Payton saying he was a TE.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

Yeah, the dunking doesn't bother me. He was playin to the crowd and showin Goodell how much we all respect him.

Shoutin at Payton is another thing all together. He needs to shut up and listen. The sideline is no place to question the coach.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

I guess I need to quote Allan Inverson again: "IT'S PRACTICE!"
Do you really think when JG scores his 15, 18, 20, 22 or whatever ridiculous number of TDs he will get this regular season, that you figure that he's going to penalize the team each and every time? Seriously?

I'm sure that he's decided what to do when he scores in the regular season. But why spoil the surprise of that at a practice?

What I noticed is that in practice JG scores 2 TDs against what I presume is a first team NFL defense. That's a good practice.

Since this has become such a distraction, I personally think that JG should hand the ball to someone in the crowd for now. $100 fine IIRC and no penalty. He can do this for the rest of the next practice until he gets around to scoring his 3 TDs against Atlanta on September 7th. I wait with baited breath to see what he will do then.

Talk about the No Fun League. Sheesh!

SFIAH

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

This is preseason football. It has no bearing at all on what the team will look like once regular season starts. It's sole purpose is to evaluate individual players and to make more money for the league.

As far as Jimmy G, if we're up by a couple of scores towards the end of the game at the Foulcants, then I hope he slam dunks it just to flip the bird to Goodell.

WHO DAT!!!

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

METAIRIE, La. -- Jimmy Graham stopped short of saying he regrets his goalpost dunks from Friday night, which drew two penalty flags and led to a shouting match between the New Orleans Saints tight end and coach Sean Payton on the sideline.

But Graham insisted Sunday that he "would never do anything to hurt the team" in the regular season.

"You know, for four years and however many touchdowns, I've always dunked it. And I just gotta stop doing that now," said Graham, though he made it clear that he's still not on board with the NFL's new rule to ban his preferred touchdown celebration -- which he said is "not hurting anyone."

Jimmy Graham of New Orleans Saints -- I wouldn't jeopardize team - ESPN

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

No. Spiking a football is simply spiking a football. Dunking, hook shooting, laying the ball up, etcetera, are all using the football as another object ... a basketball. I know, it's stupid, but it is how the rule is defined.

Re: Payton "very upset"
 

For any of you that think there was any to do with the exchange between Graham and Payton after the second dunk, read this article. I saw the actual interview and you can tell that Graham has nothing but total respect for Payton. Move on because there is nothing there.