Saints Sean Payton opens up about why he left the Saints (merged) (5 Viewers)

[SaintRob]

I don't think he had a better angle, but I saw a photo (I wish I knew where so I could pull it up) that showed him in relation to the play and he could see it. He wasn't the closest but he could see it.

This one? That's him on the left.

 

[LordPoopington]

This one? That's him on the left.

Thank you sir!

 

[HoustonSaint68]

That’s why that woman ref yesterday was absolutely awesome. She was decisive and had the stones to correct the missed call on the valid reception early in the game.

 

[Bill]

The one other thing I will add that's tangential to the point of Vinovich that I HATE about the NFL is...I know a guy who spent decades as a high school football ref. He says he's always thought the NFL going with all-star crews for playoff games is a terrible idea b/c a crew that's worked together will be less afraid about speaking up or potentially contradicting someone. They can tell when a crew member needs help with a call. All-star crews negate that.

EXACTLY!!! This was the REAL issue with that officiating crew. If that group had been a crew who had worked together all year, they wouldn't have had a problem with working together to correct a call. What we saw on that infamous day was a group who worried about who had the right to override a call that they may have seen differently.

Cavaletto screwed up and no one wanted to challenge his ruling even though two officials had a much better angle of the infraction. And a regular crew would have gotten the call right.

 

[Bill]

This one? That's him on the left.

That angle for Vinovich is more behind the ball than a direct side view like the other two officials. At Vinovich's angle he wouldn't be able to tell exactly how far the ball was from the receiver when he got popped. And Cavaletto's angle was even worse from his sideline position. The official who was reaching for his flag (and was called off by Cavaletto) had the angle that clearly showed how early the defender got to the receiver. Vinovich did not have such an angle.

 

[scott88]

no hard feelings on my end. Loved having SP as a coach, but it was clear he was in need of a change after Brees' retired

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

That angle for Vinovich is more behind the ball than a direct side view like the other two officials. At Vinovich's angle he wouldn't be able to tell exactly how far the ball was from the receiver when he got popped. And Cavaletto's angle was even worse from his sideline position. The official who was reaching for his flag (and was called off by Cavaletto) had the angle that clearly showed how early the defender got to the receiver. Vinovich did not have such an angle.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one, friend. That is not behind the ball. Brees was in the pocket way to the right. There should have been flags showering the field on that play, including from Vinovich.

And, as mentioned, he tried to say he didn't see the play.

As for the timid ref that didn't pull the flag, my take is that Cavaletto wasn't telling him not to throw the flag but he actions were directed at coach Payton who was flying up the sideline towards them. After all that confusion settled, none would awkwardly throw a flag that late. And just like that, our 99% ticket to the Superbowl was put in jeopardy. Perfect storm of incompetence, misunderstanding and confusion.

 

[LordPoopington]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one, friend. That is is not behind the ball. Brees was in the pocket way to the right. There should have been flags showering the field on that play, including from Vinovich.

And, as mentioned, he tried to say he didn't see the play.

As for the timid ref that didn't pull the flag, my take is that Cavaletto wasn't telling him not to throw the flag but he actions were directed at coach Payton who was flying up the sideline towards them. After all that confusion settled, none would awkwardly throw a flag that late. And just like that, our 99% ticket to the Superbowl was put in jeopardy. Perfect storm of incompetence, misunderstanding and confusion.

Yeah, even if Bill (the Saints Report commenter, not the ref) is correct in his explanation, then Vinovich needed to actually give that explanation in the presser not "Uh...uh...I didn't see the play" which means something different.

 

[Bill]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one, friend. That is is not behind the ball. Brees was in the pocket way to the right. There should have been flags showering the field on that play, including from Vinovich.

And, as mentioned, he tried to say he didn't see the play.

As for the timid ref that didn't pull the flag, my take is that Cavaletto wasn't telling him not to throw the flag but he actions were directed at coach Payton who was flying up the sideline towards them. After all that confusion settled, none would awkwardly throw a flag that late. And just like that, our 99% ticket to the Superbowl was put in jeopardy. Perfect storm of incompetence, misunderstanding and confusion.

I still say that Vinovich's angle was not enough to override Cavaletto who was expressing absolute confidence in his own judgment. Vinovich had a 34 degree angle from the point to point flight of the ball. (yes, I mapped his position from several different camera angles.) That would not have been enough to definitively say how far the ball was from the receiver at the moment of the collision. Cavaletto had only a 3 degree angle, which gave him no possibility of accurately determining the ball position at the moment of contact. It was a pure guess on his part. And it was a decision that was likely made due to the concern of making a game-changing decision at such a critical point in the game. Officials generally do not want their erroneous calls to determine the game. Ironically, that is exactly what Cavaletto allowed to happen.

 

[Bill]

Yeah, even if Bill (the Saints Report commenter, not the ref) is correct in his explanation, then Vinovich needed to actually give that explanation in the presser not "Uh...uh...I didn't see the play" which means something different.

That was clearly his attempt to pass the buck without looking like he was throwing his fellow official under the bus. He was in a tough spot in that post game interview. He knew the entire sports world was listening to his explanation of the worst call in professional sports.

I can promise you that by the time of that interview he had seen the same replay that we all saw on network television and knew how bad the decision was. He was in full blown damage control at the time. I bet he wishes that interference calls could have been challenged at that time. He would have loved to have the booth make that call rather than go through all the ridicule he has endured ever since.

 

[LordPoopington]

That was clearly his attempt to pass the buck without looking like he was throwing his fellow official under the bus. He was in a tough spot in that post game interview. He knew the entire sports world was listening to his explanation of the worst call in professional sports.

I can promise you that by the time of that interview he had seen the same replay that we all saw on network television and knew how bad the decision was. He was in full blown damage control at the time. I bet he wishes that interference calls could have been challenged at that time. He would have loved to have the booth make that call rather than go through all the ridicule he has endured ever since.

I realize at this point we just disagree on his response, but I think he comes off looking worse from that conference. Yeah, it's a hard situation, but he's the crew chief, the buck should stop with him. And if that was his idea of damage control, he sucks at it. Cavaletto's villain #1 in that story but Vinovich did nothing that day to earn my sympathy or respect.

 

[SoggyBottomBoy]

Payton took on a tough task with a struggling Broncos team and short on draft picks to start the rebuild. He's going to heavily scrutinized by fans for all of these Saint's castoffs, but the Lutz one may bite him in the rear the hardest. Trautman had 5 receptions and LIl' Jordan had 2 receptions on as many targets. Wilson had a decent day. Great compared to last season. But he needed a win against the beatable Raiders.

Oddly enough, the Raiders are in sole possession of first place in the mighty AFC West after one game.

 

[kcirdor]

Sean Payton is confident Wil Lutz will bounce back after two missed kicks

Broncos coach Sean Payton traded a seventh-round draft pick to the Saints for Wil Lutz at the end of the preseason, confident that Lutz would kick well for him in Denver as he had in New Orleans.

www.nbcsports.com

this is why Payton loses to many "jump ball" calls. he can't fix his own mistakes. How many Replay reviews did Payton waste? How many time outs wasted cause he was indecisive on his play calling. His clock management was always abysmal. Without Drew Brees, he's just an average coach.

 

[DavidM]

I don't think he had a better angle, but I saw a photo (I wish I knew where so I could pull it up) that showed him in relation to the play and he could see it. He wasn't the closest but he could see it.

I posted this screen cap at the time that highlighted three of the officials who were around the play.

 

[kcirdor]

Payton took on a tough task with a struggling Broncos team and short on draft picks to start the rebuild. He's going to heavily scrutinized by fans for all of these Saint's castoffs, but the Lutz one may bite him in the rear the hardest. Trautman had 5 receptions and LIl' Jordan had 2 receptions on as many targets. Wilson had a decent day. Great compared to last season. But he needed a win against the beatable Raiders.

Oddly enough, the Raiders are in sole possession of first place in the mighty AFC West after one game.

27 completions for 177 yards is a meh day. Captain Check Down doesn't win games without the #1 defense.