Three weeks after the Rams beat the Saints in the conference championship game play off, reporter Jeff Duncan is still trying to sell the notion that the so called "no-call" caused the Saints to lose the game and a trip to the Super Bowl. He can not admit that the Rams out played the Saints in that game and that Payton's play calling and Brees interception in over time was the big reasons the Rams won.
As this writer said many times in the past, Payton needs to put down the cheat sheet, let his offensive coordinator call the plays so Payton himself can pay more attention to what is taking place on the football field. Tom Landry, long time coach of the Dallas Cowboys was the most successful play calling coach but Payton is no Tom Landry. And the two most winning coaches in the big games and in winning world championships are Bill Belichick and Vince Lombardi, left the play calling to their offensive coordinators. Belichick and Lombardi used their time to be involved in what was taking place on the football field.
Duncan in his Times Picayune column of 2/10/19 said the "no-call" robbed the Saints of the NFC championship and there fore set up a tainted Super Bowl. Duncan is so far off base with his apple polishing statements and sour grape remarks and does a disservice to his audience. Duncan also made the stupid statement that the Saints were the best team in football. Duncan's big problem really shakes out to be how wrong he was in his prediction about the Saints beating the Rams and how they were going to do it which never materialized.
Make no mistake, this Saints loss, if blame is the name of the game, belongs with Payton's play calling, Brees interception in overtime and the Saints poor performance inside the Rams 20 yard line when the Saints had to settle for field goals. And to follow Terry Bradshaw's logic that any time your team is inside your opponents 20 yard line and you don't throw the ball in the end zone at least once, shame, shame on you. Well the Saints were on the 13 yard line of the Rams and threw two passes, both of them short passes and no shot was taken to the end zone. What a shame.
That is the real reason the Saints may not overcome the loss. Give credit to the Rams coach and quarterback. Payton was out coached and Brees was out played. The numbers tell the story. The Rams defense made the necessary adjustments since their loss to the Saints during the regular season and the Saints forgot the game is never over till its over.
This commentary written by Joe Lorio
