Andrus Whitewing

By John Sigler | Saintswire

Week 12’s matchup for “Monday Night Football” will help solidify the NFC playoff picture a little more, but for the New Orleans Saints have positioned themselves to where it doesn’t matter who wins between the Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles.

The same can’t be said for the rest of the contenders in the NFC. An expected Seahawks victory would put Seattle in the second seed, ahead of the Green Bay Packers; an Eagles home upset would send a ripple effect throughout the standings. If Philadelphia surprises with a win, they would replace the New York Giants at the fourth seed as NFC East leaders and Seattle would fall to the fifth seed, with the Los Angeles Rams surpassing them in the NFC West.

Then again, we’re only in Week 12. There are still five weeks of football ahead, and plenty of time for the Saints to either lock up or lose the first seed, and the valuable first-round bye that comes with it. Here are your current NFC playoff standings ahead of Monday night’s kickoff: ...

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Sean Payton's coaching in 2020 goes beyond the "X's and O's" and "W's and L's." Instead, the intangibles of coaching and leadership are the reasons he deserves candidacy for 2020 Coach of the Year.

By Kyle.T. Moseley | SI

A look back at how it all started for Payton in New Orleans. It began with a coup is signing a franchise quarterback in free agency away from Nick Saban and the Miami Dolphins. Next, the Texans GM Charley Casserly makes a conservative pick and selects defensive end, Mario Williams over college superstar and Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush in the 2006 NFL Draft.

Without a doubt, Payton and Loomis were drafting Bush at #2 overall. The remainder of the 2006 Saints Draft Class went on to have solid careers in the NFL - Reggie Bush (1st-Saints HOF), Roman Harper (3rd-Saints HOF), Jahri Evans (4th-potential Hall of Famer), Rob Ninkovich (5th), Mike Hass (6th), Josh Lay (6th), Zach Strief (7th-Saints Radio Announcer), and Marques Colston (7th-Saints HOF). Only the 2017 Draft Class rivals 2006's.

Sean Payton has one Super Bowl Championship, a 2006 Coach of the Year honor, three NFC Championship appearances, and many NFL offensive records as a coach. After 15 years in New Orleans, this may be his finest season of all, and should be considered for the 2020 NFL Coach of the Year. ...

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By John Sigler | Saintswire

Everyone appreciated how difficult a situation Kendall Hinton was thrust into — including his New Orleans Saints opponents. The practice squad wide receiver and former Wake Forest passer woke up this weekend and learned that he was going to start at quarterback for the Denver Broncos without having taken a single snap in practice after Denver’s entire depth chart was wiped out by COVID-19.

No, his numbers were not impressive. He went just 1-of-9 as a passer for 13 yards, adding 7 rushing yards on a pair of carries. But there aren’t many people who can go into a game and even complete a pass on such short notice against such a stout defense, which Saints captains Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis found commendable:


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(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

By Tzvi Machlin | The Spun

Through his first two NFL stars, Taysom Hill really hasn’t needed to do all that much as a passer. That may be a problem for head coach Sean Payton in the evaluation process heading into 2021. But he addressed the issue today.

Speaking to the media on Monday, Payton called it “a Catch-22” for Hill to do so little as a passer against the Denver Broncos in their 31-3 win. But Payton was in no mood to discuss that aspect of the game on his Victory Monday.

Instead, Payton admonished the media for not giving his team enough credit for how good they were in the running game. Hill, Latavius Murray and Alvin Kamara combined for over 220 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

But Taysom Hill rarely decided to air out the ball. He threw the ball just 16 times, completing nine passes for 78 yards and tossing an interception. ...

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The Saints ran the ball 44 times in their Week 12 win over the Broncos

By Jeff Kerr | CBS Sports

Taysom Hill has won both his starts as the New Orleans Saints quarterback, even if has last game left a lot to be desired throwing the football. Hill was just 9 of 16 for 78 yards with an interception (43.2 passer rating) in New Orleans' 31-3 victory over Denver -- missing a few reads and struggling to release the football over the course of the game.

The Saints ran the football 44 times -- or 69.9% of the time -- in the victory, which wasn't a direct result of Hill struggling to throw the football. Running the ball was part of the game plan, thanks to the Broncos' quarterback dilemma regarding COVID-19.

"Going into the game, the game plan changed in the last 24 hours so my mindset changed as well," Hill said. "I really became a game manager at that point and certainly the way Sean [Payton] called the game reflected that. We're not going to take any unnecessary risks that put our defense in a bad situation. ...

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