Knock out or knocked out
By now you've probably read or seen or heard about the pass interference call that wasn't made in the Saints vs. Rams game for the NFC Championship. I won't drag the details, but a Rams defender hit the Saints player well before the ball got there which should have resulted in a pass interference call placing the Saints near the goal line and a fresh set of downs. They would have run the clock down, kicked a field goal, and been on to the Super Bowl.
Instead, no call was made - I'll never understand why and I suspect few others will - the Saints kicked a field goal but left time on the clock, the Rams tied the game in the dying moments, Drew Brees threw an interception on the Saints first possession in overtime, the Rams ran a couple of plays, kicked the game winning field goal, and are on to the Super Bowl.
The thing everyone was talking about after the game was that no call. Again, I will never understand why a call wasn't made when it was that obvious, but it wasn't. Many believe that the game outcome was altered on that call, and that the lack of the call blew the Saints chances. On first glance I believe that you might agree.
But I'm going to take a different approach. Yes, I do believe that call altered the outcome of the game, however, I will argue that the Saints should have never been in that position in the first place, where one call could have changed their fortunes.
Again as I do with these posts, I never played football, nor do I coach football so I am simply going from my opinion.
Why do I believe the Saints should have never been in that situation, where the game could turn on a call/no call? Because the Saints were at home, and jumped out to a 13-0 lead. In fact that Saints had a 10 point lead in the second half.
But back to that 13-0 lead. What I see is a team that failed to land that knock out blow. A 13 point first quarter was followed up by a scoreless second quarter while the Rams, on the ropes early, came back and trailed by 3 at halftime 13-10.
That is a huge difference. That gave the Rams all the momentum heading into the half. That let the Rams know that they survived the early onslaught, were only down 3, and therefore were very much in the game.
I don't believe the game outcome should have been in doubt for the Saints. 13-0. At home. Opponent on the ropes. What happened? That is the question that should be asked along with the no call.
I tell my crews each year that we work to control the variables that we can control, and then we hope that everything else breaks our way. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. In 2016, I took a very good N4 to WIRAs and they happened to win a championship. That was a solid boat, but I'd taken better boats to WIRAs that hadn't won. Things just didn't go our way. We lose an athlete one year. We drew a faster heat another year and missed grands. The variables we couldn't control weren't going our way, and despite doing what we could, we fell short.
When I see what happened to the Saints, what I see isn't just a pass interference call that went against them or wasn't called. What I see is a team that jumped out to a 13-0 lead, and then only scored 10 points the rest of the way against a highly talented, equally explosive team which a very solid defense. When the opportunity to knock the Rams out of the game was there, the Saints never landed that killer blow. They allowed a team to get off the mat, fight back, and push a game that looked like a blowout in the first quarter into a nail biting finish.
The call should have been made. But I don't believe that game should have ever come down to whether a call is made or not.
Instead, no call was made - I'll never understand why and I suspect few others will - the Saints kicked a field goal but left time on the clock, the Rams tied the game in the dying moments, Drew Brees threw an interception on the Saints first possession in overtime, the Rams ran a couple of plays, kicked the game winning field goal, and are on to the Super Bowl.
The thing everyone was talking about after the game was that no call. Again, I will never understand why a call wasn't made when it was that obvious, but it wasn't. Many believe that the game outcome was altered on that call, and that the lack of the call blew the Saints chances. On first glance I believe that you might agree.
But I'm going to take a different approach. Yes, I do believe that call altered the outcome of the game, however, I will argue that the Saints should have never been in that position in the first place, where one call could have changed their fortunes.
Again as I do with these posts, I never played football, nor do I coach football so I am simply going from my opinion.
Why do I believe the Saints should have never been in that situation, where the game could turn on a call/no call? Because the Saints were at home, and jumped out to a 13-0 lead. In fact that Saints had a 10 point lead in the second half.
But back to that 13-0 lead. What I see is a team that failed to land that knock out blow. A 13 point first quarter was followed up by a scoreless second quarter while the Rams, on the ropes early, came back and trailed by 3 at halftime 13-10.
That is a huge difference. That gave the Rams all the momentum heading into the half. That let the Rams know that they survived the early onslaught, were only down 3, and therefore were very much in the game.
I don't believe the game outcome should have been in doubt for the Saints. 13-0. At home. Opponent on the ropes. What happened? That is the question that should be asked along with the no call.
I tell my crews each year that we work to control the variables that we can control, and then we hope that everything else breaks our way. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. In 2016, I took a very good N4 to WIRAs and they happened to win a championship. That was a solid boat, but I'd taken better boats to WIRAs that hadn't won. Things just didn't go our way. We lose an athlete one year. We drew a faster heat another year and missed grands. The variables we couldn't control weren't going our way, and despite doing what we could, we fell short.
When I see what happened to the Saints, what I see isn't just a pass interference call that went against them or wasn't called. What I see is a team that jumped out to a 13-0 lead, and then only scored 10 points the rest of the way against a highly talented, equally explosive team which a very solid defense. When the opportunity to knock the Rams out of the game was there, the Saints never landed that killer blow. They allowed a team to get off the mat, fight back, and push a game that looked like a blowout in the first quarter into a nail biting finish.
The call should have been made. But I don't believe that game should have ever come down to whether a call is made or not.
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