Saints game not lost because of Brady's first INT

[shatch62]

I have read a lot about how the Saints game was lost once Brady threw that first INT. For example the Patriots daily stated "The result was Brady’s first pick, a quick Saints TD and ultimately, the end of the game." Even after that score it was 7-10 Saints. This idea we lost after the INT is dumb. Two moments killed the Pats in theis game.

1) The missed FG before half. Had the Pats got this the score at half would have been 13-24. Missing it changed the out look more than we all knew at the time.

2) More importantly, the game was "lost" in my mind on the Saints first possesion of the second half, Pats take the 2nd half kick off, drive the filed for a TD and make it a 17-24 game. Next Saints possesion - 3 plays, 74 yrds and a TD. 17-31. Pats drive down the field, stall out and go for it on 4-4 at the 10 and come up empty. After the last Saints score the team acknowledged it would have to score TDs on every drive to win so they gave up on FGS. Had they kicked a FG it would have been 20-31, but 3s were not good enough with Brees tossing bombs left and right.

The rest of the game was completely down hill

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I have read a lot about how the Saints game was lost once Brady threw that first INT. For example the Patriots daily stated "The result was Brady’s first pick, a quick Saints TD and ultimately, the end of the game." Even after that score it was 7-10 Saints. This idea we lost after the INT is dumb. Two moments killed the Pats in theis game.

1) The missed FG before half. Had the Pats got this the score at half would have been 13-24. Missing it changed the out look more than we all knew at the time.

2) More importantly, the game was "lost" in my mind on the Saints first possesion of the second half, Pats take the 2nd half kick off, drive the filed for a TD and make it a 17-24 game. Next Saints possesion - 3 plays, 74 yrds and a TD. 17-31. Pats drive down the field, stall out and go for it on 4-4 at the 10 and come up empty. After the last Saints score the team acknowledged it would have to score TDs on every drive to win so they gave up on FGS. Had they kicked a FG it would have been 20-31, but 3s were not good enough with Brees tossing bombs left and right.

The rest of the game was completely down hill

pats lost because the saints are the best team in the league. that's all there is to it.

 

[ALP]

umm, yes and no...

had the pats scored instaead of brady throwing an int, it could have become 14-3....

at which point the henderson wide open for a bomb play may not have happened....

brady started the decline....it was ALL downhill after his first INT.....just that other plays made it go downhill even harder

 

[TheComeback]

That was horrible decision and throw by Tom. He should have thrown it away if he couldn't get to Moss in time. It was totally inexcusable for a veteran quarterback. Tom has to know you can't wait that long on a slant route.

It really killed our momentum just when it looked the team might be able to do something against the Saints. It's not every game you get a 41-yard punt return.

There's no getting around it. When your captain does his job that badly, and the rest of your players are mostly young and inexperienced, it ripples down and affects the whole team.

The oline did not help Brady at all yesterday, but he could have made much better decisions the entire game. Even though they scored 3 more points, I honestly thought it was a worse performance by the offense than the Superbowl. They left a lot more points on the field. A lot more. New Orleans embarassed this team on every side of the ball.

 

[oldskool138]

umm, yes and no...

had the pats scored instaead of brady throwing an int, it could have become 14-3....

at which point the henderson wide open for a bomb play may not have happened....

brady started the decline....it was ALL downhill after his first INT.....just that other plays made it go downhill even harder

And with that 14-3 lead, the Pats could have kept running the ball especially in the second half.

 

[Pujo]

It takes more than one play to win or lose a game. If Brady threw that int but after that they scored TD's on every posession, they'd have won. But it didn't happen that way, and they lost. Brady's int was the first bad play on a night full of them.

 

[khayos]

No need to point out single plays on this one, it was all out team loss.

 

[upstater1]

Belichick gave credence to the idea that the Patriots lost intensity after the Brady pick.

He said so during his press conference.

 

[jmt57]

I thought there were four primary plays, three of which have been mentioned: Brady's first interception; the defensive breakdown leaving Henderson wide open, and the missed field goal. And I won't disagree with Belichick's comment that upstater mentioned either.

However, one other play that really stuck in my head during the game was when the Pats got the ball back after they finally stopped the Saints at the end of the third quarter. At this point the Pats were down 14 with 15 minutes left to play - the game was certainly not over at this point. On first down Brady overthrew an open Sam Aiken deep down the right sideline. After a run that went nowhere and a short pass to Welker, the Pats had to punt again. Had that pass been completed - or had other plays been called that would have resulted in a first down - you're looking at a seven-point game. Instead the Pats defense went back on the field, the Saints scored after taking five minutes off the clock to lead by 21 with 7 minutes to go, and the game was over.

 

[brady et al fan]

I have read a lot about how the Saints game was lost once Brady threw that first INT. For example the Patriots daily stated "The result was Brady’s first pick, a quick Saints TD and ultimately, the end of the game." Even after that score it was 7-10 Saints. This idea we lost after the INT is dumb. Two moments killed the Pats in theis game.

1) The missed FG before half. Had the Pats got this the score at half would have been 13-24. Missing it changed the out look more than we all knew at the time.

2) More importantly, the game was "lost" in my mind on the Saints first possesion of the second half, Pats take the 2nd half kick off, drive the filed for a TD and make it a 17-24 game. Next Saints possesion - 3 plays, 74 yrds and a TD. 17-31. Pats drive down the field, stall out and go for it on 4-4 at the 10 and come up empty. After the last Saints score the team acknowledged it would have to score TDs on every drive to win so they gave up on FGS. Had they kicked a FG it would have been 20-31, but 3s were not good enough with Brees tossing bombs left and right.

The rest of the game was completely down hill

Thanks for posting this. I have been thinking the same thing. The Pats were down 24-17 in the 3rd quarter. The game was not over at that point. Brady's earlier pick had nothing to do with the defense's inability to stop the Saints on the ensuing possession that put us down 31-17. That unit was well rested and that was their moment to stop the Saints and give the offense a chance to tie it up. They didn't. Then the offense went into panic mode as it was quite clear that the defense was completely overmatched against the Saints. I think that was 4 straight possessions producing touchdowns by the Saints at that point. Sorry, you can't blame that on Brady.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

pats lost because the saints are the best team in the league. that's all there is to it.

True

Based on Monday, the Saints have the best team. As such, you have to play mistake free football to beat them right now.

However, the first drive does provide the "blueprint" for beating them. Had we gone up 14-3 and continued pounding them on the ground we had an excellent shot.

What I don't understand is why TB didn't run at all? He most likely could have waltzed for about 15 yards.

However, give them momentum and one mistake made it 17-7. After that, it's goodnight Irene.

 

[b72s]

That was the Saints superbowl to date

The biggest game in years for them and they were jacked up and so was the hometown crowd.

And of course the executed pretty flawlessly.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Re: That was the Saints superbowl to date

The biggest game in years for them and they were jacked up and so was the hometown crowd.

And of course the executed pretty flawlessly.

Unfortunately this site can't figure out that the past ten years has shown that flawless execution in week 11 has about zero relavence in who hoists the Lombardi.

If the obvious could only dawn, this site might someday get back to enjoyable discussions on football.

 

[Deus Irae]

The interception was the key play of the game. Why look elsewhere when it was as obvious as it was in that game?

 

[BigEZPatsFan76]

The interception was the key play of the game. Why look elsewhere when it was as obvious as it was in that game?

Exactly, that was a major play in the game. And to think, Welker was just inches away from breaking that punt return all the way, the play before. If and only if........



EZ76

 

[BradyFTW!]

Re: That was the Saints superbowl to date

The Saints demonstrated no ability whatsoever to stop our ground game. We stopped our ground game for them, and simultaneously dug ourselves into such a deep hole that we couldn't run even if we wanted to, allowing them to sell out against the pass.

If we keep the ball on the ground for most of the second drive, and pass out of the play action (which Brady has always been exceptional at, I can't for the life of me figure out why we don't do it anymore), chances are better than not that we're up 14-3 midway through the second quarter. Absolutely no question that was the turning point of the game.

I think it can be pretty safely said that I'm not a chicken little (in most game day threads you'll find me laughing at the chicken littles for being so outrageously irrational), but before the first half was even over I had written "ballgame" and called it for what it was. We lost this game before halftime, as crazy as that sounds.

 

[Rob0729]

The Pats didn't lose because of the pick, but it sure was a momentum changer. The Pats looked to be gaining a head of steam and it all fell apart from there. The INT was responsible for the momentum shifting in the Saints' direction, but the Pats had plenty of time to do something to shift it back to them and they didn't.

I would say the INT was the catalyst of the Pats' slide and the Saints' dominance, but it surely wasn't the reason the Pats lost especially when they lost by 3 TDs.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Re: That was the Saints superbowl to date

The Saints demonstrated no ability whatsoever to stop our ground game. We stopped our ground game for them, and simultaneously dug ourselves into such a deep hole that we couldn't run even if we wanted to, allowing them to sell out against the pass.

If we keep the ball on the ground for most of the second drive, and pass out of the play action (which Brady has always been exceptional at, I can't for the life of me figure out why we don't do it anymore), chances are better than not that we're up 14-3 midway through the second quarter. Absolutely no question that was the turning point of the game.

I think it can be pretty safely said that I'm not a chicken little (in most game day threads you'll find me laughing at the chicken littles for being so outrageously irrational), but before the first half was even over I had written "ballgame" and called it for what it was. We lost this game before halftime, as crazy as that sounds.

It's not crazy because the Saints are a crazy good football team playing at home with a crazy crowd.

That's why it's so important not to give the home team that type of help. In this case the INT or the BS PI call on Butler/ 4th and 2 spot in Indy.

 

[Wax Frog]

That was horrible decision and throw by Tom. He should have thrown it away if he couldn't get to Moss in time. It was totally inexcusable for a veteran quarterback. Tom has to know you can't wait that long on a slant route.

I was honestly expecting a tuck and run for whatever was there That's the last thought I'll devote to the debacle...

 

[Bill B.]

Re: That was the Saints superbowl to date

Unfortunately this site can't figure out that the past ten years has shown that flawless execution in week 11 has about zero relavence in who hoists the Lombardi.

If the obvious could only dawn, this site might someday get back to enjoyable discussions on football.

What!! You have the audacity to make a statement that smacks of common sense. This is doom and gloom time. Haven't you been reading these posts by football experts? The game has passed Belichick by, our defense can't stop anyone, Mayo is a bust, we haven't had a good draft in years, we can't win without Weis, we can't win with Pees, Brady is on the decline, we rely on Moss and Welker too much, and it basically is all Giselles fault.

Never mind the fact that we are two games up in our division. Never mind that our team always gels in December. Never mind that we still have the second best offense in the NFL. you must ignore all the positives that have happened so far this year before the Saints game. This is panic time and the sky is falling.

(In case it needs to be explained, I am being sarcastic.)