tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530115824493944396.post131980716307436954..comments2023-10-15T04:30:08.433-05:00Comments on Hakim Drops the Ball!: Saints Win! Ole! Ole-Ole-Ole!Mr. Held Overhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15267337235861718498noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5530115824493944396.post-64715061878853620292008-10-27T14:24:00.000-05:002008-10-27T14:24:00.000-05:00your analysis of the intentional safety overlooks ...your analysis of the intentional safety overlooks the entirely plausible scenarios where houser botches the snap, our punter that was signed off the street last sunday evening mishandles the snap or the chargers rush 10 and block the punt. <BR/><BR/>In addition, Melhaff kicks off from the 30 and consistently puts it at the 5 yard line. Kicking from the 20 (with no tee) would lead you to reasonably assume that the chargers would be returning the ball (if they chose to return it at all) from around their 20 or 25 yard line. Compare this with Graham's 42 yard gross average yesterday and see that the Chargers could have reasonably expected to be fielding a punt on their own 32 yard line.<BR/><BR/>Essentially, Payton knew the Saints were going to have to cover a kick regardless of what he did, so he chose to give up 2 points to avoid potential pitfalls of having to actually snap the ball and get a kick off with a new punter under what was likely to be a heavy rush.<BR/><BR/>Where the play went wrong was Brees threw the ball too early, leaving 1-2 more seconds on the clock than he should have. Had he taken two more steps, Sproles would have run the clock out foolishly returning Melhaff's kick 32 yards and San Diego would have never gotten to snap the ball.<BR/><BR/>All in all, combined with Payton going for it on 4th down multiple times when the situation warranted it, I found his decision making superb. <BR/><BR/>In the heat of a close game that both teams desperately needed where the offenses were doing whatever they wanted to the defenses, the difference between winning and losing was we had Sean Payton and San Diego had Norv Turner.Justinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00019208938095118082noreply@blogger.com