Which scenario would you prefer for your favorite football team?
1. Score: Trailing 34-27. Time remaining: One minute. Field position: Own 20 at worst, and maybe a lot better. Timeouts left: Two
2. Score: Trailing 30-27. Time remaining: Twelve seconds. Field position: Buried inside of your own 20. Timeouts left: ZERO!
The obvious choice is No. 1, which explains why Sean Payton chose option No. 2.
Fact: NFL coaches don't know what the hell they're doing late in games.
In case you missed the end of the Vikings-Saints contest...
With under 1:30 to go in the 4th, Vikings QB Gustaf Willie McGee Frerotte heaved a 3rd down duck into double coverage to the Saints' 12 yard line (or somewhere very close), where Saints DB (and ex-Bengal superstar) Kevin Kaesviharn molested WR Bernard Berrian. Penalty. Spot foul. First down. Field goal range. Chip shot territory. Game over. Should be. Except the Saints had two timeouts left and the Vikings stupidly decided to run a few plays, as opposed to a few quarterback sneaks or extended kneel-downs to drain the clock.
Which was great news for Sean Payton, because all he had to do was instruct his team to lay down and allow Adrian Peterson (or whoever) to score an easy six-pointer so they could get the ball back and leave Drew Brees with as much time and as many timeouts as possible. It was that simple, and it presented the Saints with their only realistic chance of winning. Somehow, they opted against that plan. More than likely, the thought never crossed Sean Payton's mind...nor did it cross the minds of the MNF booth - which makes perfect sense considering they supposedly possess intelligent football minds. Whatever.
(CORRECTION: Apparently Tirico did bring this up, but Jaworski and Kornheiser weren't in obvious agreement. Either way, Payton's a moron.)
The aftermath...
The Saints held Peterson to minimal gains on first and second down, and burned their precious timeouts in the process. Third down witnessed a similar result and now the Vikings were lining up for a go-ahead FG with 0:15 on the clock. Ball game. Vikings 30, Saints 27.
Am I the only one outraged by this?
-Brad Spieser (Brad@TwinKilling.com)
10/7/08
