Can not believe our offense blew that game. One fucking first down was all they needed. And a horrible game from Brees, maybe the worst he's ever played for the Saints.
Lack of running game and poor play calling (never should have thrown to Colston on 3rd down before FG, among others) cost us. Still want to know why the clock stopped after the first down run on the Saints last possession. It stopped at 2:10 when it should have gone to 2m warning. NE was out of time outs. Its just one game in a long season, but the roller coaster of emotions is what makes it tough. I'd rather get blown out.
Payton and Brees will feel this for a long time. Brees was horrible, Graham choked, and Payton coached the offense not to lose. The team that plays to win, usually does.
I agree with everything except that last part. He did choose a pass play to Colston in the end zone on 3rd down. This ultimately cost us the game because he could have run another 45 secs off the clock before Hartley's FG. I'm not blaming the D because they played well enough to win, but I just don't understand why they laid back in coverage on the last drive. They had been bringing pressure all day and it worked, so why change now? I hope someone that recorded the game can tell me why the clock stopped at the 2:10 mark. I know I keep harping on this, but the Pats were out of timeouts at that point, we just ran the ball on 1st down, then the clock inexplicably stopped. 2nd down was the 2 minute warning, then that gawd awful bootleg on 3rd down left that Pats with 1:40 when they got the ball. If the clock keeps running to 2m warning on 1st down, I don't think NE has enough time to score. The team picked a helluva time to bust out the Aints and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
New England called their first timeout after they failed on 4th down deep in their own territory (after we ran on 1st down). Then called another timeout after the 2nd down run. Then the Saints helped them out by throwing an incomplete pass, so New England kept their 3rd timeout. We kick the FG and then kickoff to Brady. He throws the interception on the very first play with 2:14 left. We run for a short gain and they call timeout immediately. Then the 2nd down run goes down to the 2 minute warning. Then we run again and run off 40 seconds and punt. So the question then becomes, would Belichick have let the clock run down to the 2 minute warning had we run the ball instead of thrown an incomplete pass? It would have been about 2:28 left after the 3rd down run and Belichick may have wanted a timeout vs saving just 28 seconds (normally you would save 40 seconds if not for the 2 minute warning). So let's say he lets it run down to the 2 minute warning. Brady throws the interception with about 1:45 to go. The Pats still have 1 timeout. They use it after a first down run. We can basically kneel at this point and run off at least 1 minute and 25 seconds. The punt takes another 10 seconds. Game over.
I'll throw a couple of my sour grapes into this too. Brees was not sharp at all and didn't play particularly well for him, but he wasn't horrible (remember him throwing all those pick 6's last season?). However, the end of game clock management was much more reminiscent of Les Miles than Sean Payton. Not running time off of the clock or forcing the Patriots to use their timeouts is what cost the game. Throwing a long passes on 3rd down on the last drive? WTF Payton? Even if a run got nothing, or even negative yardage, it forces the Pats to call a TO or it runs another :40 off the clock. A sack was better than an incompletion in that scenario. Had either happened, the Saints win the game. And don't get me started on the most egregious holding non call I have ever seen in my entire life on the last TD pass. I understand that borderline holding occurs on almost every lay of the game. But in a game deciding situation when a defensive end is running to sack a QB in the pocket and that tackle literally wraps the left arm around the front of his neck in a choke hold and pulls him backward to the ground by the jersey with the right hand right beside the QB, how does it not get seen and called? Poor Galette almost got ass raped right there on the field and the refs saw nothing I guess. I hate when people blame the refs, but that was horrible and made the difference between winning and losing on that one play.
I don't have an issue with going for the jugular with the pass to Colston, I think we may be the only team in the league that would have had the nerve to try that. What issue I have is why do you run out of a tight bunch set on those obvious run downs? Why don't you get 4 wide in formation and spread out the defense and then run out of that. Then the 3rd down with play action (if you would have even needed it) would have been really effective. Running Colston as a lone receiver out in pattern on that play is too risky in giving Drew only 1 option to go to.
I actually stopped watching the game (literally) when the refs didn't call the Patriots for encroachment on 4th and 1 just before half. It gives us a first down, we probably go in for a TD, at least a FG, no doubt. How in the holy hell does that fucking ref come from the sideline in direct view of what happened and say that we moved first? Unfortunately when I got back home, the game was still on and it was when we were driving to try to go ahead 24-23. I knew I should not have watched the remainder of that ball game. It was the San Francisco 2011 playoff loss all over again. About as painful as it gets.
