PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

No pressure, Sean...

Re: You are subscribed to this thread USA Today/SaintsWire | PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I think we've had the best roster for years, they just need to find a way to play up to their potential in the playoffs.

Re: You are subscribed to this thread USA Today/SaintsWire | PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

And avoid the refs screwing them like against the Rams.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

We won’t get screwed till we play Brady


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

We do. Look what we have done in spite of losing MAJOR contributiors for an extended period of time.

Re: You are subscribed to this thread USA Today/SaintsWire | PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Even then, we kept the Rams in the game by not converting at major opportunities.

Obviously the blown call was ridiculous by the Refs, but we had opportunities and couldn't pull away - Dan Arnold's dropped TD and settling for 3 points after Demarios Int inside the 15 yard line spring to mind.

Re: You are subscribed to this thread USA Today/SaintsWire | PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I was in the stands for that game. In fact the no call happened in front of our section.

I came away with the same reaction - too many squandered opportunities

I think the Rams were so flat vs Patriots because it took their entire soul to beat us that day

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I don't want to play Brady again.

Edit- This is it! Brees' final year. Sean won't let us down this year. I feel that, but I still have an ounce of doubt in the back of my head...

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Luck plays a huge part in who wins the championship every year. Players and coaches readily admit this fact.

Re: You are subscribed to this thread USA Today/SaintsWire | PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

If we are that good, we wouldn’t let games get close enough for that to matter.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Regular season Saints are always better than playoff season Saints...

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

2009-10?

Every year stands on it's own.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

True Dat! Dat and the referees play a big part too unfortunately.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

All those that say “just don’t let it close and let the refs decide it”
Don’t realize that’s a hell of a lot tougher than it sounds; Especially in the playoffs. Both teams made unforced errors in that game as they do in every game. If the refs let one team get away with more holds, PI, etc in a game then that team is likely going to win more often than not.

Look at the Minn Miracle. That game was lost by the D. The Rams game was a gift to Them from the refs.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Re: You are subscribed to this thread USA Today/SaintsWire | PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

When you let lesser opponents hang around, bad things happen. Punch em in the throat and play to your skill level, not theirs. Don't leave it to the zebras. Yeah we have been on the bad side of several calls, but at the end of the day, had we played to our skill level, then most of the BS would have been a moot point.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Agreed:

"The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.”


- Babe Ruth

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Punch them in the throat...and get tossed like Jordan did against KC. You are making the mistake in thinking the Saints are/were the superior opponent and were/are capable of manhandling other playoff teams despite being handicapped by refs. I guarantee if the calls go against them again then they lose. That’s why there hasbeen only one undefeated team ever. NO TEAM EVER was capable of doing what you ask. The difference between winning and losing is too razor thin at this level.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

https://www.brainyquote.com/photos_t...anklin1-2x.jpg

True, but that still does not preclude luck, good or bad.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I'm pretty sure that he meant for us to mentally punch them in the throat but to actually kick their ass up and down the field.:bng:

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Sorry, respect your view, but disagree. Putting the blame for a loss solely on the ref’s is a fools folly, not to mention it makes an otherwise knowledgeable person, look like a typical team homer. Big picture, usually many points of a game where a team shoots them in there own foot.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

We've been the most talented team the last 3 years, and we're even better this year, best depth of any team in the NFL. Problem is, a SB Champ needs some luck and we haven't had it since 09, we keep catching bad breaks.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Respect bob, but I didn’t put blame solely on the refs. I pointed out the Minn Miracle was not on the refs. I’m saying it’s unrealistic to think the answer is simply to beat the other team badly enough that the refs can’t determine the outcome. Newsflash... the Saints are not that much better than Green Bay, KC, etc that they can simply decide to be ahead by two or three touchdowns at the end of the game and therefore take the refs out of it. Thinking you are that good is arrogance and leads to the same kind of flat play that cost the Philly game this year.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I said nothing of the teams you mentioned, or any team for that matter. But when you under perform as we have on several instances, then you can’t be too surprised when bad things happen. It’s kinda like marrying a hooker, don’t be shocked if you come home and she’s in bed with your best friend.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Newsflash - Both the Chiefs AND the Packers have already beaten the Saints this season, therefore unbiased thinking will consider both of those teams as superior. At least on that one day, lol, who knows what the future may bring. But, Luck is an excuse, not a reason. You don’t have to be ahead of an opposing team by two or three touchdowns to have the game in hand. Control the clock, sustain drives, don’t turn the ball over, etc... and you can easily eliminate the ref’s having an determinate affect on a game. Allowing the game to rely on one single play isn’t indicative of bad/good luck. It’s poor play, it’s poor game management both on and off the field, it’s poor playcalling both on/off the field, etc... Bottom line, it wasn’t bad luck that stopped Anzalone from falling on the ball in the end-zone. It was poor execution resulting in a five point swing, not in our favor. Hard to win tough games when you’re “giving” points away.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Anyway, we are on the verge of going in circles here. I agree that there are plays here and there throughout a game that can determine if a team wins or loses. The Saints have to get as many of those plays correct as they can. But likewise you can make every play perfect and the refs. can still make/not make calls or make bad calls that cost you the game. (Did anyone see the phantom unnecessary roughness Call the lions got on The Cousins sack this past weekend?).

The GB game from earlier this year is an example. Saints lost that game. Penalty difference was 8-2 in GB favor with 4-2 GB favor in penalties for first downs. Now, Saints could and should look at plays they didn’t make in that game. But to say that the refs didn’t have an impact on the result of that game that is outside of the player’s control is wrong and to simply say the answer is to “play better” won’t win a Super Bowl If they decide to ignore obvious holds against the Saints D line again and let one set of D backs to get away with things they aren’t letting the other team’s. Just like the players on the field, the refs on the field have a duty to do their job well. When they don’t, things get screwy.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I hear what you’re saying and agree, somewhat. Problem with your line of logic is that EVERY team’s fan base is using the exact same list of “reasons” we are, here, in this forum. But for some odd reason, we think our “getting screwed by the refs” is legit, in EVERY loss, lol. Not just the Rams/Saints championship game. Yes, there are missed calls, on both sides of the football. I just don’t see it as a reason for losing, I see it as an excuse that the losing side quite frequently uses.

It’s fairly obvious that I’m not a believer of the “ref’s are out to get us” mantra..., that being said, the missed DPI call in the Rams/Saints championship game was SO obvious and blatant, along with the ref watching it like a hawk, so badly missed that it makes a fella look side-eyed every now and then, lol.

Difference of perceptions here, nothing more, nothing less.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Looking at that.....Jenkins had 2 PI calls on one drive, a horse collar on another...at the time our defense literally stunk. We had an offside on 3rd and 7 that led to a fg. GB scored 23 points on drives with penalties. I expect that to be different if we play them again, and also moving forward. When the team plays better because we have the people in coverage, or correct scheme. {not because of the refs} but because we are better.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Agreed to both. When I look at losses I try to evaluate what happened. That starts with comparing the team to the opponent. This season’s loses looked like this:

GB- Close game against a good team. Can’t say they outplayed the Saints. They got a few turnovers that were unforced, and they hit some long shots. The team stayed with it and kept it close, and I do think the refs had an impact with the lopsided calls as I remember the D line being held all night.

Raiders- Tough road game opening a new stadium on Monday night, so they were pumped. Carr passed all over and they scored a lot of points. BUT the penalty difference was large in the game (10-3 5-1). Again, this seems quite a bit on refs.

Philly - Completely unprepared in all facets of the game. Refs had no impact.

KC - Big game against a big team. Played them as well as they could with deprecated team. Again, missed several hold calls against the D line. But refs didn’t influence the outcome much.

Just my thought.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I have visited forums for virtually every team in the league and I can assure you that the exact same "reasons" have been floated everywhere. The same can be said for callers on sports talk radio. Same thing. Just insert team name in the blank and it's the same story.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Every other team’s fans say the lost a conference championship game due to a non call from the refs? I doubt that. And I am in no way blaming every loss on the refs. But I am saying the refs can determine the outcome of a game and take it out of a team’s hands.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Yes. Every other team’s fans complain about EVERY team’s loss claiming we lost bc... “ref reasons”. Whether it was week one or the championship game fans universally state: “we lost bc:... <insert reason here>“ and again almost universally the fan base will use “ref’s” as reason #1.

The Rams/Saints DPI was a missed call, clearly, unambiguously. And imho, the crew that missed the call should never have been allowed on the field again. Instead, Vinovich was selected to ref SBLIV. Effectively he was selected for “excellence” while completely failing on the field. That bothers me more than the missed call bc that truly does call into question the integrity of the NFL. There is no way to recompense the Saints organization fir human failure, mistakes. But, imvho, mistakes of that severity should have a punitive reaction, not a promotion.

Bottom line, all team’s complain about the ref’s..., in every single game ever played, and almost always we state: “our team lost bc the ref’s don’t like us”.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Well, that surely wasn’t what I was saying and as I pointed out in my breakdown of the losses this year I don’t blame every loss on the refs.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Maybe that's because the NFL has lousy officiating!:doh:

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

Depends on what you hyper-analyze. Referee calls are judgemental, subjective even, and in no way controllable, even if the referee’s individually do have “call tendencies”. Since calls being made, or not, is out of the player’s ability, it is uncontrollable. Play on the field however, is controllable.

Difference of personalities my friend. I understand the logic you, among others, are using. I just don’t ascribe to it..., I consider it to be an “excuse”, not a reason. But, lol, as we’ve seen excuses can be real, sometimes the dog truly does eat the homework!, aka the Saints/Rams missed DPI call. I just don’t think it’s systemic to the product as a whole. To each their own though! Very little around here is “dogmatically” true. It’s just opinions and debates. Even stats, while quantifiably “true” are subjective in what they represent.

To be clear, you’re not wrong, nor am I right. I just see things a bit differently and am voicing my beliefs on a subject. It truly is that simple..., with me.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

That’s one way to look at things, lol. But if you call penalties using a computer, then the flags would fly on just about every play. And games would last eight hours or more, and be a bore to watch. Personally, I wish there were fewer calls, allowing playmakers to be playmakers. I could easily call OH and DPI on every play. Penalties should be egregious, not “technically” meeting the def’n of a penalty. For example, TH#91 received a roughing the passer call a handful of games back. Opposing QB (I can’t recall who it was off the top of my head) was passing, Trex pushed the OL into him, TRex put his hand in the air to block the pass, and as his arm came down, it contacted the QB’s helmet. He didn’t hit him, he wasn’t punching, there was no malice involved, unambiguously. imho, it was a bad call. The idea is to protect the QB from egregious contact, not just incidental contact.

I wish there were fewer of these calls. So, it depends on how you define “lousy”. lol. You have unique insight into that field that I don’t have though. An insight I can’t have.

Re: PFF suggests Saints may have the best roster among playoff contenders
 

I'm not disagreeing with you. I should have mentioned that it's lousy officiating because it's uneven and inconsistent. As a rugby referee with over 40 years experience. I've personally seen and/or refereed hundreds and hundreds of matches. All the good refs know who needs help and we sit and discuss them at tournaments and how to improve their game. We assign referee coaches to help those referees improve. I am a ref coach, a ref, and a rugby coach. I know what to look for and how to position myself. We pass this knowledge on to the lesser referees and elevate their game.

In essence I can spot a bad referee who is inconsistent or not doing a very good job. The NFL is littered with bad referees and the NFL even grades them but do they coach them up? Make them professional referees? No they do not and that is what is so frustrating. I watch the referees almost as much as the player. My mind has been trained to think that way.