CharityMike

The Minnesota Moment needed more than a solid route, a great throw, a better catch, and an acrobatic spin and sprint. It hinged also on the blind luck that came from the last line of the New Orleans defense making a mental miscalculation in the “oh sh-t” split second as the ball approached the hands of receiver Stefon Diggs.

Marcus Williams, as one source familiar with the New Orleans defensive scheme explained it to PFT, undoubtedly had been told over and over and over again to not commit pass interference in that situation. Even though the flag will tend to be tucked a little deeper in the officials’ pockets at that moment in a postseason game, Williams risked drawing a penalty if he’d blasted an airborne Diggs before the ball arrived.

By diving to the inside, Williams also was hoping to prevent Diggs from getting out of bounds. No one (other than Diggs) was thinking that the catch could become a catch-and-run to paydirt.

The problem is that Williams dove a little too early and a little too far off the target line, missing Diggs completely (the kill-shot move instead of the form tackle with extended arms was a factor in the whiff), doing nothing to impede his progress, and also wiping out teammate Ken Crawley, who may have had a chance to tackle a stumbling Diggs in the field of play, which would have ended the game.

The play design was a separate issue. There simply weren’t enough guys in the vicinity of the target spot for a potential game-winning field goal and no one playing the deep middle in order to defend against the worst-case scenario that ultimately unfolded.

The Saints rushed four players. They had a defensive back covering tight end Kyle Rudolph who ran a six-yard out. There were two defensive players in the middle of the field near the 50. A safety on the side across from Diggs was playing over the top of receiver Adam Thielen, apparently in the event that Thielen got by Marshon Lattimore in the same way Digg eluded Williams.

If the Saints had used a two-man rush and an umbrella of protection along the sidelines from the 35 to the 25 and with one or two break-glass-in-event-of-emergency safeties guarding the end zone, Williams wouldn’t have been put in a spot where, as a practical matter, he had Diggs in single coverage.

Watch the play. Crawley was covering Jarius Wright, and Williams had Diggs — with no help behind Williams. The instant Williams missed Diggs, it was game over.

That may be one of the reasons why the team isn’t blaming Williams. Pointing a finger at the player could result in someone pointing a bigger finger at defensive coordinator Dennis Allen for a defensive play design that had too many players in spots where they weren’t needed, and not enough where they were.

Saints’ defensive play call may be more to blame than Marcus Williams for Minnesota Moment – ProFootballTalk

Vrillon82

What I realized as well, seemed too many players was stuck in the middle of the field or off to the side lines and not enough far back to prevent a deep pass, no brainer that Williams whiffed and took out the one person who could possibly make the tackle, but the bigger problem was their was no one else behind those 2, even a safety at the goal line would of did some good.

jeanpierre

This is exactly what we were talking about at breakfast Monday morning...

As all of us MMQB were discussing what had happened, we wondered -

What defense was that that DA had them in on that play?

Cruize

To allow someone a FG try in 25 seconds is a total failure. To allow someone behind you/past you on that play is a total failure. The timeout was a failure. Mr. Williams failed. The coaching staff failed. It's done. Great season. The future looks bright with the young talent of which includes Mr. Williams. The Saints would not have been where they were without Mr. Williams. What hurts most is, magical seasons are few and far apart. Especially for the Saints. This felt like one of those seasons.

hagan714

All he had to do was tackle him on the way down.

Wrap him up and keep him in bounds.

He was in the right position at the right time

Ken Crawley was less than 5 yards away to help with the tackle also.

The clock would have run out.

Game over.

Right call

Bad execution.

The Dude

Idk football like y’all but why did they have Williams man on man with that guy without anyone behind him for help in case that situation occurred? I would have though they would have someone in zone coverage behind him. Or Crawly man to man with the receiver and willianms in zone?

Is this a stupid question from someone who has no football knowledge?

st thomas

It will get better every day that goes by draft yak is here already so we will be fine I love u guys for a great season and awesome knowledge of this team and game we all love

This message is approved by S.T.

TheOak

All the ex-players that I’ve listened to on SiriusXM refer to it as “Final Play”, they al said it was the right call. BUT our corners were not deep enough.

Rugby Saint II

Poorly executed play! If he makes the tackle we win.