Advertisement

New Orleans Saints' Sean Payton has no issues with officiating after zany finish

By The Sports Xchange
New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton watches a replay during the game with the Denver Broncos at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans November 13, 2016. Photo by AJ Sisco/UPI
1 of 3 | New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton watches a replay during the game with the Denver Broncos at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans November 13, 2016. Photo by AJ Sisco/UPI | License Photo

Over many years, especially in the first 20 seasons of the franchise's existence, the New Orleans Saints found some crazy and zany ways to lose games they should have won.

That has been lessened somewhat in the two decades combined under Jim Mora and Sean Payton, who each have more than 90 victories and have been known more for those wins than hard-to-believe, gut-wrenching defeats.

Advertisement

But Sunday, disbelief returned for Saints' fans who thought they'd seen it all when it comes to heartbreaking setbacks.

This was a new one, an improbable 25-23 setback to the Denver Broncos just when it looked like the Saints (4-5) would pull off a huge win in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

But as tough as it was to see his team go down while attempting to take a one-point lead with 82 seconds left, only to have the Broncos block an extra point and return it for two points for the win, Payton said he had no complaints Monday after a review of the game tapes.

Advertisement

Payton said what Dean Blandino, the NFL's vice president of officiating, also stated on Sunday night. In short, there was not enough evidence that Broncos safety Will Parks stepped out of bounds en route to his run to the end zone after safety Justin Simmons blocked Wil Lutz's extra-point try.

"Obviously, you can't see a clear enough picture on the sideline," Payton said of Parks' dash in front of the Saints bench, "or it appears that you can't."

Payton also didn't think there was anything wrong with how the Broncos executed the play. Defensive end Jared Crick pushed down long snapper Justin Drescher just after the play started, which helped Simmons leap over him and right into the path of Lutz's kick that would have given the Saints a 24-23 lead.

Like Blandino, Payton noted that the move by Crick is legal as long as he didn't grab the long snapper or any other offensive lineman and try to pull him to the ground.

Instead, Payton said the Saints must do a better job of identifying a leaper and make sure he doesn't get near an extra point or a field-goal attempt. Both Lutz and holder Thomas Morstead both pointed to that after Sunday's game.

Advertisement

It's legal to leap over the snapper as long as you don't use a teammate to gain leverage or touch the snapper in any way.

"Watching that, there didn't look to be anything egregious," Payton said. "You're not allowed to pull him down, and I don't see a strong push down. We've just got to be better in that situation of recognizing a jumper and being able to see it. It's an easy penalty to draw if you (the snapper) just come up at all."

While Saints' fans thought their team got the short end of the stick on the decisive play, the NFL office viewed it differently.

Blandino released a video via Twitter, noting the play was legal.

"Open-hand push, legal," Blandino said. "If there was a grab and a pull, that would be defensive holding. This is a similar concept as an offensive lineman blocking a defensive player if he can get up on top of that defensive player and push him toward the ground. It's legal."

When it looked like Parks may have stepped out of bounds on his way to the end zone, Blandino said it was too close to call and there wasn't enough evidence to support overturning the call on the field.

Advertisement

"It's very close," Blandino said. "It looks like the foot could be out there. White shoe, white sideline, it's very difficult to tell from this angle. ... We need something looking right down the line from either end zone that's going to be your best look. Unfortunately, we just don't get that look.

"Replay is made to fix obvious mistakes," he said. "If it's not an obvious mistake, the call on the field must stand."

Latest Headlines