Childress & Payton Play Calling (1 Viewer)

[SaintsInDome2006]

I was at the Saints/Vikes game last night and the wildness that ensued in the Vieux Carre, Poydras Street and Warhouse District afterward. The game was so intense and incredible - I never left my seat - that as much as I tried I had a hard time evaluating the game and taking in what happened.

After the game, the final stats surprised me. I would have predicted that the Vikes had a strong advantage in TOP and yards, but I had no idea it was so one sided.

However, a large part of that was a result of the fact that several (maybe 3?) of the Saints's possessions were on such a short field due to turnovers and special teams.

From the outset, having watched a lot of Vikes games this year I thought the Vikes came out passing way too much. They did just fine doing that of course and they ended up running ADP quite a lot, but I think they should have run him (or maybe using Taylor) more, and to me they were just risking draining Favre ('draining' was Favre's word post-game) and his arm. Regardless of the constant commentaries on his "youthfulness" this is still a very old quarterback in terms of the age of NFL QB's and how long they last. I think it showed at the end of the game.

One thing Favre did exceptionally well, and one reason (besides ADP) I wanted to face him least of any other possible playoff QB was handle the crowd noise extremely well. The Dome was incredibly loud, the fans never, ever, let up, every single play the fans were on Favre and the Vikes with an amazing, constant din, and Favre just handled it. I don't know how many QB's could, if any. However it was well publicized here when Childress came out and for no reason said the Vikes would have the Saints' fans sitting 'on their hands', the fans here took that as a personal challenge in game they were already ramped up for.

The similarities between this game and the GB/Philly NFCC and the GB/NYG NFCC where Favre's last pass was an interception that killed his team's promising hopes and led to the winning score for the other team are remarkable. But Childress has to take some criticism for what I would call bizarre placalling on the last drive.

I also think Favre could have been called for an unsportsmanlike conduct 15 yard penalty for trying to call a consecutive timeout at the end, but the refs called 12 men in the huddle instead, a 5 yard penalty.

It looks like the Saints got to Favre more than I had thought in the game.

As for the Saints' playcalling, Payton again avoided his old penchant for going to the pass way too much and abandoning the run, he seems to have cured himself of that virus. One disease he still suffers from is over-cleverness, especially in his unbelievable call for a double reverse on his own side of the field, that was nearly a 25 yard loss, but ended up just being a wasted play (leading to a punt) in one of many crucial drives. Otherwise Payton should get some major credit for devising a game plan that *mostly kept MIN's fearsome front 4 out of Brees' face and their backfield.

Brees and Favre missed on what looked to me, for them, like a large number of passes. But then I think in the end Brees did that better than Favre, because he ended up with 3 TD's and no INT's and Favre ended up with 1 TD and 2 crucial, crucial INT's (and Favre's missed handoff on that unbelievable series at the end of the 1st half is something to consider, how does that happen to him and ADP at that point?).

To the Vikes fans, your fans are terrific solid people and I will be pulling for you and your team in the future when possible, a classy, tough, smart, football-traditioned bunch of people.

 

[Mr. Black]

I thought B Childress was scared at the end of the 4th and was playing for overtime until Berrian picked up that first down on the miss tackle, then once they crossed the 50 I thought Childress was playing for a field goal and a long field goal at that. For the life of me I just don't understand why all of these coaches play for field goals. I know Favre made a stupid throw but that play call IMO was horrible to begin with. IMO it just seemed like Childress tightend up down the stretch which is exactly what I expected him to do.

 

[Lash]

not really Childress, but more Frazier (and he callled a great game otherwise):

on 3rd and 10 in OT, Jared Allen dropped off into zone coverage??!?!?

Allen dropped back, never got close to covering anyone

Brees had forever to throw and completed the 9.9 yd pass to Henderson that set up Pierre's 4th down dive

why would you call that?

 

[Ghost Rider]

I thought both coaches coached too scared at times. Payton seemingly went too conservative for most of the game, and had just some bizarre play-calls; Bush up the middle on 3rd and 1? Might as well just punt on 3rd down. I liked Childress' aggressiveness for most of the game, but his gutless play-calling at the end of regulation was unforgivable.

 

[gianmarco]

I was at the Saints/Vikes game last night and the wildness that ensued in the Vieux Carre, Poydras Street and Warhouse District afterward. The game was so intense and incredible - I never left my seat - that as much as I tried I had a hard time evaluating the game and taking in what happened.After the game, the final stats surprised me. I would have predicted that the Vikes had a strong advantage in TOP and yards, but I had no idea it was so one sided.However, a large part of that was a result of the fact that several (maybe 3?) of the Saints's possessions were on such a short field due to turnovers and special teams.From the outset, having watched a lot of Vikes games this year I thought the Vikes came out passing way too much. They did just fine doing that of course and they ended up running ADP quite a lot, but I think they should have run him (or maybe using Taylor) more, and to me they were just risking draining Favre ('draining' was Favre's word post-game) and his arm. Regardless of the constant commentaries on his "youthfulness" this is still a very old quarterback in terms of the age of NFL QB's and how long they last. I think it showed at the end of the game.One thing Favre did exceptionally well, and one reason (besides ADP) I wanted to face him least of any other possible playoff QB was handle the crowd noise extremely well. The Dome was incredibly loud, the fans never, ever, let up, every single play the fans were on Favre and the Vikes with an amazing, constant din, and Favre just handled it. I don't know how many QB's could, if any. However it was well publicized here when Childress came out and for no reason said the Vikes would have the Saints' fans sitting 'on their hands', the fans here took that as a personal challenge in game they were already ramped up for.The similarities between this game and the GB/Philly NFCC and the GB/NYG NFCC where Favre's last pass was an interception that killed his team's promising hopes and led to the winning score for the other team are remarkable. But Childress has to take some criticism for what I would call bizarre placalling on the last drive. I also think Favre could have been called for an unsportsmanlike conduct 15 yard penalty for trying to call a consecutive timeout at the end, but the refs called 12 men in the huddle instead, a 5 yard penalty.It looks like the Saints got to Favre more than I had thought in the game.As for the Saints' playcalling, Payton again avoided his old penchant for going to the pass way too much and abandoning the run, he seems to have cured himself of that virus. One disease he still suffers from is over-cleverness, especially in his unbelievable call for a double reverse on his own side of the field, that was nearly a 25 yard loss, but ended up just being a wasted play (leading to a punt) in one of many crucial drives. Otherwise Payton should get some major credit for devising a game plan that *mostly kept MIN's fearsome front 4 out of Brees' face and their backfield.Brees and Favre missed on what looked to me, for them, like a large number of passes. But then I think in the end Brees did that better than Favre, because he ended up with 3 TD's and no INT's and Favre ended up with 1 TD and 2 crucial, crucial INT's (and Favre's missed handoff on that unbelievable series at the end of the 1st half is something to consider, how does that happen to him and ADP at that point?).To the Vikes fans, your fans are terrific solid people and I will be pulling for you and your team in the future when possible, a classy, tough, smart, football-traditioned bunch of people.

all around. I, too, was surprised by some of the replays/stats of the game as they weren't as obvious watching it there. The yardage discrepancy was the most astounding. The one that surprised me the least were the 3rd down conversions. If not for the turnovers, it was the biggest factor in the game. Bottomline is that the Saints simply could not stop the Vikings on 3rd down when they needed to and, surprisingly, couldn't convert manageable 3rd downs on offense. Killed drives for the Saints and extended drives for the Vikings dictated the game. Only the turnovers evened that out.I'll also echo the sentiment of the Vikings fans in the dome. Nothing but class throughout the game and afterward.

 

[saintsfan]

I was at the Saints/Vikes game last night and the wildness that ensued in the Vieux Carre, Poydras Street and Warhouse District afterward. The game was so intense and incredible - I never left my seat - that as much as I tried I had a hard time evaluating the game and taking in what happened.After the game, the final stats surprised me. I would have predicted that the Vikes had a strong advantage in TOP and yards, but I had no idea it was so one sided.However, a large part of that was a result of the fact that several (maybe 3?) of the Saints's possessions were on such a short field due to turnovers and special teams.From the outset, having watched a lot of Vikes games this year I thought the Vikes came out passing way too much. They did just fine doing that of course and they ended up running ADP quite a lot, but I think they should have run him (or maybe using Taylor) more, and to me they were just risking draining Favre ('draining' was Favre's word post-game) and his arm. Regardless of the constant commentaries on his "youthfulness" this is still a very old quarterback in terms of the age of NFL QB's and how long they last. I think it showed at the end of the game.One thing Favre did exceptionally well, and one reason (besides ADP) I wanted to face him least of any other possible playoff QB was handle the crowd noise extremely well. The Dome was incredibly loud, the fans never, ever, let up, every single play the fans were on Favre and the Vikes with an amazing, constant din, and Favre just handled it. I don't know how many QB's could, if any. However it was well publicized here when Childress came out and for no reason said the Vikes would have the Saints' fans sitting 'on their hands', the fans here took that as a personal challenge in game they were already ramped up for.The similarities between this game and the GB/Philly NFCC and the GB/NYG NFCC where Favre's last pass was an interception that killed his team's promising hopes and led to the winning score for the other team are remarkable. But Childress has to take some criticism for what I would call bizarre placalling on the last drive. I also think Favre could have been called for an unsportsmanlike conduct 15 yard penalty for trying to call a consecutive timeout at the end, but the refs called 12 men in the huddle instead, a 5 yard penalty.It looks like the Saints got to Favre more than I had thought in the game.As for the Saints' playcalling, Payton again avoided his old penchant for going to the pass way too much and abandoning the run, he seems to have cured himself of that virus. One disease he still suffers from is over-cleverness, especially in his unbelievable call for a double reverse on his own side of the field, that was nearly a 25 yard loss, but ended up just being a wasted play (leading to a punt) in one of many crucial drives. Otherwise Payton should get some major credit for devising a game plan that *mostly kept MIN's fearsome front 4 out of Brees' face and their backfield.Brees and Favre missed on what looked to me, for them, like a large number of passes. But then I think in the end Brees did that better than Favre, because he ended up with 3 TD's and no INT's and Favre ended up with 1 TD and 2 crucial, crucial INT's (and Favre's missed handoff on that unbelievable series at the end of the 1st half is something to consider, how does that happen to him and ADP at that point?).To the Vikes fans, your fans are terrific solid people and I will be pulling for you and your team in the future when possible, a classy, tough, smart, football-traditioned bunch of people.

all around. I, too, was surprised by some of the replays/stats of the game as they weren't as obvious watching it there. The yardage discrepancy was the most astounding. The one that surprised me the least were the 3rd down conversions. If not for the turnovers, it was the biggest factor in the game. Bottomline is that the Saints simply could not stop the Vikings on 3rd down when they needed to and, surprisingly, couldn't convert manageable 3rd downs on offense. Killed drives for the Saints and extended drives for the Vikings dictated the game. Only the turnovers evened that out.I'll also echo the sentiment of the Vikings fans in the dome. Nothing but class throughout the game and afterward.

I agree with your observations. Having been in the Dome, I was surprised at the difference in yards, until I read on another thread that the Saints outgained the Vikings by 150 yards on Special Teams. That's where those yards are. So, the yardage was much closer than just looking at offensive yardage. The Vikings were much better on 3rd down, but also much worse in the red zone, so those evened out. The Saints didn't sustain drives, but when they got in the red zone, they scored.The difference, IMO, was that the only unit on either team that completely dominated the game was the Saints special teams. Combine that with a +4 in the turnover ratio and that's your game.

 

[John 14:6]

Watching the game on TV last night, I thought the Viking coaches did great until that last drive. This morning there was a lot of talk about the 12-men in the huddle penalty that cost us 5 yards, and talk of the interception Brett threw after that.

My biggest problem with that last drive, though, was how the coaches handled it. IIRC, the Vikings had a lot of time they just let run off the clock when, instead, they should have been trying to get more yardage. IMO they should have been going for the TD!

Rather, it looked like they were setting up for a 50 yard FG. Longwell's a great kicker, but I can't understand settling for that long of a FG for ANY kicker. It was a tied game so the worst thing that could have happened (and did anyway) was if they turned it over on that drive. They were moving the ball very well, they should have tried to at least get closer...