What I saw today, and my thoughts.

[JDouble]

   I'm sure many of you couldn't care less about what I saw today or what I think of it, and you are free to skip this thread if that is the case, but after a game like today it makes me feel better to get my thoughts out.

   It's play calling without a doubt. The fact that Jackson was ran down when he should of had a TD, or that we couldn't punch it in from the one yard line with four tries, or the Refs robbing us at the end....those things suck, but it didn't cost us the game. We made a LOT of mistakes today, but they didn't cost us the game either. What cost us the game was rushing three men over and over and over when everyone and their mom could see it wasn't working. Would Brees have had as much success if we blitzed or at least rushed four? Maybe, but we'll never know. All we do know is that three men were not getting it done and we stuck with it anyways. Bad coaching. Bad play calling. I'm not sure if the staff really didn't understand how bad the secondary is, or they didn't understand how good Brees is, but at some point they have to see it and adapt. Horrible job today. Got out coached by a team with no coach. I still like Schiano, but not a good day for the new regime.

   As far as the penalty on the FG that resulted in a15 yard penatly and then a TD instead of a 51 yard FG attempt....I've never heard that rule in my life. I've always thought as long as the defense doesn't go over the line of scrimmage or yell out a fake cadence....they are allowed to move around and do anything they want to try and get the O-line to jump. In fact, I was under the impression that was their job. Look at Greenbay's "psycho" defense and tell me how that is different? Apparently I don't know all the rules. You can say it's Schiano's fault and he should have known the rule, and maybe you'd be right...but I don't entirely blame him. For them to move in unison like that they have obviously practiced that. How on Earth does his special teams coach or Butch Davis or SOMEONE not know that rule and inform Schiano it isn't legal? Anyway...stupid rule. Stupid penalty, but defensive play calling cost us the win.

   Also, the play at the end with Mike's TD nullified...the rule says that if the player comes back into the field of play and resets/re-establishes his feet, he is eligible again. Mike Williams had come back in and taken 4 or 5 steps before making the catch. So wth? If I am wrong about the rule, please educate me. I am still in a state of shock that the game ended like that. Just horrible to end such a high scoring hard fought match up like that with a stupid stupid call.

   Bright spots? Freeman, Martin, Jackson, David, and for the most part the O-line. Everything else was average to awful today. Front seven picked a bad time to not show up. Of course much of the blame goes to the bad play calling/three man rush. I mean, how good can they look when you rush three guys, one of which is Daniel Teo' whatever, and then you drop Roy **CENSORED**ing Miller into coverage?

   In the end it was a great game to watch. Very entertaining. My voice is all but gone and I might need heart meds. Well worth the price of admission. Hopefully today's game was exciting enough to overcome the fact we lost. Hopefully people who watched were excited enough to wanna come buy a ticket to the next game. Not sure how the excitement/frustration ratio will work out among the masses. Time will tell. If we manage to win our next two games and go 4-4, I think we'll sell out the Chargers game. If we lose....probably not. 8-8 is looking less and less likely....but you can see this team has promise. We just need a few more players, especially a CB, and the roster needs time to wrap their heads around the new schemes entirely so that we can be more consistent and cut out the stupid mistakes. And honestly this coaching staff needs some time to come together and adapt to the NFL too.

   It's frustrating because we could easily be 6-0 right now. We aren't pitiful or depressing. We have the talent and the coaching to do great things. It's just a matter of everything coming together....and it will with time.

[The Anti-Java]

I believe Mason did yell out something, that was the penalty, not the movement.

[bradentonian]

I believe Mason did yell out something, that was the penalty, not the movement.

Correct

[rmiller14]

I believe Mason did yell out something, that was the penalty, not the movement.

Linebackers can yell out stuff that doesn't sound like a normal cadence.  Pretty sure that the O-line was taken aback by the D-line's movement and reacted to that, which caused them to false start.  I doubt it was a cadence.

[JDouble]

He yelled out an audible to the defense and they audibled. Maybe the Saints weren't expecting an audible on a FG try, and it was done in attempt to get a false start...but as long as he isn't attempting to impersonate Brees' cadence by yelling "hike" or something, then it seems legit to me. Pretty ticky tacky imo but I digress.

On a separate note, I was just thinking....how does Mike Williams get PUSHED out of bounds 15 yards down field without it being pass interference?

[QaZ]

I believe Mason did yell out something, that was the penalty, not the movement.

Thats how i understood it aswell, he called the shift, which was 'illegal', not the shift itself, although i thought they were almost right over the head of the center after.

[JDouble]

I believe Mason did yell out something, that was the penalty, not the movement.

Thats how i understood it aswell, he called the shift, which was 'illegal', not the shift itself, although i thought they were almost right over the head of the center after.

So there is a specific rule that says the Mike has to be quiet on FG attempts? I mean, he's yelling out all kinds of stuff on every other down. I don't see the difference.

[The Anti-Java]

I believe Mason did yell out something, that was the penalty, not the movement.

Thats how i understood it aswell, he called the shift, which was 'illegal', not the shift itself, although i thought they were almost right over the head of the center after.

So there is a specific rule that says the Mike has to be quiet on FG attempts? I mean, he's yelling out all kinds of stuff on every other down. I don't see the difference.

He can call all the audibles he wants, you can't mimic the snap call. which i believe is what he did.

[JDouble]

On TV they are saying that pushing Williams out of bounds was not a foul because Freeman had left the pocket. I still don't get it. Freeman hadn't crossed the LOS. He wasn't a runner. So even though he was still a QB and still trying to throw....the defenders are allowed to push and shove receivers just because he left the pocket? So every time guys like Vick and RG3 leave the pocket, we can shove the receivers to the ground or push them out of bounds? That sounds ridiculous.

[BucBalla85]

Yea I think they should have made the adjustments to blitz more but Brees can make you pay for it just as much. I think Schiano will be.fine but its clear he's still learning how to call games or make adjustments in games. Also secondary needs to get better. That goes without saying. Sad to lose the game and this team will likely miss playoffs but im still gonna watch the games and cheer for the team. They will continue to get better and hopefully make a run next year. They aren't that far away.

[The Anti-Java]

On TV they are saying that pushing Williams out of bounds was not a foul because Freeman had left the pocket. I still don't get it. Freeman hadn't crossed the LOS. He wasn't a runner. So even though he was still a QB and still trying to throw....the defenders are allowed to push and shove receivers just because he left the pocket? So every time guys like Vick and RG3 leave the pocket, we can shove the receivers to the ground or push them out of bounds? That sounds ridiculous.

I think we get a better explanation later in the week from the league office.   Something is not right with that.

[danimal09]

On TV they are saying that pushing Williams out of bounds was not a foul because Freeman had left the pocket. I still don't get it. Freeman hadn't crossed the LOS. He wasn't a runner. So even though he was still a QB and still trying to throw....the defenders are allowed to push and shove receivers just because he left the pocket? So every time guys like Vick and RG3 leave the pocket, we can shove the receivers to the ground or push them out of bounds? That sounds ridiculous.

I think we get a better explanation later in the week from the league office.   Something is not right with that.

I agree. Everyone keeps bringing that out of the pocket rule up like it is known, every other question about that play has been referenced in the rule book. Where is the reference in the rules for that? I think Mikey P just pulled some **CENSORED** out of his ass and it stuck to the wall

[Hate]

On TV they are saying that pushing Williams out of bounds was not a foul because Freeman had left the pocket. I still don't get it. Freeman hadn't crossed the LOS. He wasn't a runner. So even though he was still a QB and still trying to throw....the defenders are allowed to push and shove receivers just because he left the pocket? So every time guys like Vick and RG3 leave the pocket, we can shove the receivers to the ground or push them out of bounds? That sounds ridiculous.

I completely agree. If that's the rule, its bullshlt!!

[JDouble]

Plus, I just watched it on NFL Redzone, and Freeman hadn't left the pocket yet when Mike is pushed....so the whole call is bullsh!t. When the contact is made between the defender and Mike, Freeman is just then spinning around to scramble....but he hadn't taken off yet and was still in the pocket.

[The Anti-Java]

Mallcon Jenkins just said, the Saints work on that in practice, pushing WR's out of bounds.