What a nut-punch loss.... And I'll bet the cries will be how the NFL really needs to not award division winners automatic higher seeds. Give them a playoff spot, no doubt, but eventually seed by record. Then again, if the Saints can't beat this Vikings team at home, not sure they'd have knocked off any of the other NFC contenders.
If they had called that in real time, there would have been a ton of controversy. Hopkins creates that sort of separation nearly every catch.
Saints are the the worst "elite contender" of past 5 years. Laid one turd after another in the playoffs. Their insufferable fanbase with all the whining and b****ing about the refs last year deserves this loss.
I'm really questioning why they don't even look at it, it's going to decide the fate of two teams, I think it's worth a booth review.
They're the Oilers... with a Super Bowl and conference championship appearances... This weekend just serves as a reminder of how hard it is to win any playoff game in this league... plenty of bad memories from the 90's Oilers getting conjured up.
But they weren't going to overturn it. The call to look at plays comes from actual officials... and they obviously felt the judgement call had no chance of being overturned, thus why even review it? Its a flaw in allowing review of these judgement calls at all... in the end, its also a judgement call when it comes to reviewing them.
It wasn't a 50/50 call, though. It was clearly pass interference that set the tone for the rest of the game. It'd be like if that "Durant-out-of-bounds" play when the Rockets played GSW, except if that game was game 7 of the WCF. Rockets fans would be whining and b****ing for years and years. This loss is on Drew Brees, which I thought I'd never say.
I think it's bs how, in OT, all reviews are "automatically reviewed" by the powers that be. Like, how exactly are teams supposed to hold them accountable? If a coach wants something reviewed, they might be screwed by the OT rules in that regard.
while i will have some fun with two louisiana co-workers tomorrow, don't you kind of owe the saints a look at that OPI after last season? i mean you specifically put in the rule because you screwed them on pass interference and it's not like the OPI was insignifcant as to why the receiver got so open. also, it was such a weird, anti-climactic ending. the receiver didn't seem that excited. the vikings didn't initially go crazy. the stadium just went silent. the saints didn't seem mad about the non-review. i've seen regular season first quarter TD's inspire more reaction.
Its a scoring play... all scoring plays have a chance of being reviewed via the same mechanism, regardless of OT or not. Coach's can want something all they want... but there is a replay official that has the final say. A "courtesy" review is simply a waste of time in this case... they weren't going to overturn anything about that play. They probably did think about it for a second, and after the first replay was shown, confirmed it.
Also Drew Brees is way overrated. Sure, he'll throw for 40 TDs during the regular season, but he's had some terrible games in the playoffs lately. Even today Taysom Hill was the better QB in a Saints uniform. Brees is the new Marino -- all the stats and numbers, but no chance in the playoffs.
I enjoy leagues that don't do makeup calls... The shot of their sideline did show some craziness... you just can't see it when they're focusing in on Rudolph, who obviously is trying to do his best to stay in bounds and avoid dropping the ball at any point (I think he's still holding it). The silence of the Superdome was pretty climactic.... eerily similar to how MMP sounded after the Pujols HR.
Except he won one.... he's the new Favre/Steve Young.... and Rodgers isn't far behind either if he can't win more than one.
yeah i definitely don't think it was an obviously smart strategy. you're basically assuming NE won't score again, otherwise you're just screwing yourself. given the tennessee's offense ability and NE's struggles, maybe it's the best option, but certainly not obvious that it was going to work. however, i love seeing someone do this. i've always wondered why no one ever took advantage of the obvious ability to shorten 4th quarters with the lead by committing penalties with a running clock. theoretically could you do it the entire quarter down to 5 minutes left? if i had a 14 or 21 point lead it might be worth taking a lot of penalties all the way back into your territory just to run 7 or 8 minutes. same thing in basketball with running clocks after a made basket with over 2 minutes left. if i had a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left, i would practice waiting to pick the ball up to start the 5 second count, then use all 5 seconds, then throw the ball in slowly but not pick it up so the shotclock doesn't start and just pretend i'm doing the "let it roll before picking it up to save the shotclock" thing while actually just running the game clock. people would catch on so i'd save it for a playoff game, but i'd see if i could sneak 20 or 30 seconds off the clock with a couple of those.
I'm curious if they review all aspects of the play, though. From "is it a catch?" to "was there OPI/DPI?" Regardless if they were going to overturn anything or not, iirc they didn't even seem to do their due diligence and initiate a review.
Yes, everything is reviewed on scoring plays. The person in charge of initiating formal reviews obviously watched it live and watched a replay or two of it (as they do with all scoring plays) and saw nothing worth reviewing. Again, its a judgement call... with offensive pass interference being even more of a judgement/subjective call vs. defensive pass interference.
Honestly didn't look that egregious in the angle the NFL showed in their tweet of the play. Just the usual hand fighting that's going to happen when a 6'6, 265 TE is single covered by a 6', 195 lb. CB. Good on Cousins for recognizing the mismatch.