dam1953

So, if you accidentally stumble into the wrong part of town and get mugged, stripped naked, robbed and end up near dead, I guess you just say "my bad". No need to call the cops to make sure this doesn't happen to the next guy.

jeanpierre

The more accurate analogy is that we shouldn't have been in that neighborhood and despite the best rules and efforts by public officials, when you go into that neighborhood, bad things happen...

As a franchise, our history waaaay more often than not has been we come out on the losing end. No one here is denying that the non-call was total bullshinski...

But having homefield, momentum, better QB, we self-destructed with suspect play-calling and misallocation of resources (i.e. running Ingram outside, Kamara up the middle, not running enough, forcing Taysom)...

Was never more disappointed with Payton than when he walked into the post-game presser looking relieved that the League took the hit for his mistake of putting us in a neighborhood we had no business being...

It's not that my way is the right way, I just make the right way my way...

jeanpierre

And knowing that Forever, we should haven't allowed the game to be close and should've put the game away early when Goff choked and threw that early INT - we score a TD there, we're celebrating Lombardi Gras...

Rugby Saint II

No one cares about New Orleans except New Orleans!

WhoDat!656

I disagree! If Brees' pass to Thomas was 6" higher Thomas walks into the endzone.

AsylumGuido

But it wasn't. Therefore, the next critical play that would have ALSO assured the Saints victory was the non-call. That was the last play that was a game changer and therefore cost us the win.

vpheughan

How dare you site facts Guido!!! This is the "What If....... & What They Should Have Done" Board!!

CHA_CHING

Andddd we got away with a blatant facemask on Goff at the red zone right before it was tied up 20-20. If the refs call that, we're down 24-20 and trying to win the game with a TD.

Bad calls happened on both sides, in fact most games have bad calls in them. The Patriots could've screamed about non-calls against KC (in the 4th quarter and OT, the Chiefs were getting away with blatant pass interference in the AFCCG), but they managed to overcome them. It has pained me since that loss that the entire conversation of what went wrong is centered around that one bad non-call. Good teams overcome bad calls, we succumbed to it, unfortunately. The refs didn't make our offense do diddly poo in the second quarter after going up 13-0 and then again in the second half after going up 20-10. We had chance after chance after chance to really throttle those frauds, but we didn't, we let them hang around in the game with enough time to freaking tie it.

Go back and watch tape of the games from the final stretch of the season and both playoff games. Something went wrong with the offense beginning with the Dallas game and they never recovered. Fans blame the refs on everything, but something was wrong with this team and there is no denying it.

I started to panic back in December with that mess against Pittsburgh. We were dominating that team in the first half, then did nothing in the second half after going up 24-14. A 10 point lead was blown and yet the defense was trying to move heaven and earth (2 stops on 4th down and a turnover, not counting the turnover on Pittsburgh's final drive) to win that game, and yet our offense STILL couldn't really do anything. A pass interference penalty was our biggest help to getting that final TD to barely squeak that game out. That was the moment for me I knew we were going to struggle in the playoffs.

IMO the Rams game went eerily similar to the Steelers game; jumped out to a nice lead, opportunity was there to blow them out, blown 10 point lead, offense struggling in the second half to really do anything (and no real offensive adjustments. This was obvious in the second half vs the Rams. After going up 20-10, they had completely shut us down to the point we needed a miracle catch by Ginn as our last real meaningful play of the game.)

I'm tired of talking about the non-call. Everyone seems to forget that many of us were panicking back in December cause we watched this offense just collapse after Dallas beat them down and sadly exposed that our offense only had 2 playmakers worth worrying about (Kamara and Thomas). Every game after that was a struggle; Tampa Bay, Carolina, Pittsburgh, Philly and sadly yes, the Rams gave our offense serious problems. This was all happening before that egregious non-call. Hence why I absolutely will not believe they some how would've beat the Patriots.

That one bad call has completely overshadowed everything leading up to the point that had went wrong for us in that game. It also overshadows that something went horribly wrong with the offense beginning with the Dallas game. No one is talking about either of these things anymore. It's all about that one bad non-call.

AsylumGuido

That was not a blatant facemask on Goff. In fact, it wasn't a facemask penalty at all. Grasping the facemask of a QB, or any other player, in the act of running (or scrambling) is no longer a penalty. It used to be called as a five yard penalty.

"If a player grasps an opponent's facemask, he must immediately release it. If he does not immediately release it and controls his opponent, it is a foul. Penalty: For twisting, turning, pushing, pulling, or controlling the mask: Loss of 15 yards."

Former head of officiating Dean Blandino confirmed after the play that this was clearly the case on that play. Goff's facemask WAS grasped, but was immediately released and therefore NOT a penalty.

That is a fact.

“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” — Winston Churchill

saintsfan1976

Things that contributed to our loss:

No Ben Watson
Injured O line
Poor play execution
Egregious officiating