Sean Payton Defends Greg Schiano
September 15th, 2013
Few Bucs fans will sleep tonight, tossing and turning in their beds, stomachs racked with acid reflux over Bucs commander Greg Schiano’s decision to attempt a 47-yard field goal on fourth-and-three with 1:10 remaining after call a run play on 3rd-and-6.
Rian Lindell’s attempt was no good, and Saints quarterback Drew Brees had a short field to work with when he sliced through the Bucs defense to set up the Saints’ game-winning field goal.
Had the Bucs attempted a pass and converted for a first down, or even scored a touchdown, the game would have been over. So many Bucs fans turned to Twitter and other social media and blasted Schiano for playing too conservative — once again — and costing the Bucs a win.
Well, Saints coach Sean Payton, a former college classmate of Joe’s, doesn’t want to hear it. In his postgame press conference, Payton raced to Schiano’s defense.
“It was the right thing to do,” Payton said of Lindell’s failed attempt. “I think it was the right thing. It had plenty of distance, right?”
Well, yeah, if the ball would not have hooked so badly, and gone through the uprights, the Saints would have been in a pickle, needing to go the length of the field after a kickoff needing a touchdown to win.
The thing is, a first down puts the game away for the Bucs. Joe has to wonder whether the clear struggles of Bucs franchise quarterback Josh Freeman (yet again) led either Bucs offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan or Schiano to simply not trust Freeman to get a first down.
To Joe, that speaks volumes. Oh, and Freeman’s updated record against teams with a winning record? It’s now a woeful 6-16.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:09 pm
Notice that Payton says its the right thing but didn’t say that is what he would’ve done. Two very different statements.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:10 pm
I’d defend Schiano too. He wants to keep that conservative loser in the division as long as possible.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Easy for Peyton to say with his quarterback….I will guarantee you in that situation he wouldn’t have run it three times and risked giving the ball back to Brady or Rodgers…..and we shouldn’t have given it back to Brees with a 4 point lead or a 1 point lead.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:12 pm
Schiano made the right call. Kick the field goal, force them to score a TD AND go for 2… Dont put the ball back into a crappy QB’s hands. Defense was dominant… Schiano trusted them.
Only Josh’s jock sniffing groupies want to argue this because it takes the spot light off there lover’s 2nd horrific game of the season.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:15 pm
It was the right thing to do…….for the Saints.
If Schiano want to win, he needs to do like Seinfeld, and be like Opposite George. Whatever he thinks he should do,,,, do the opposite.
Sullivan 4 HC.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:17 pm
“Schiano made the right call.”
if he made the right call, then we’d be sitting on top of the NFC South right now. Still putting it all on Freeman huh?
Couch, youre an absolute, simple minded moron. What are you, a Nascar fan?? Ignorant little fu(k.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
@Couch Fan
If we scored the field goal it would have only put us up by 4, so New Orleans would only need a TD, not a 2pt conversion.
I just don’t see why he trusted Lindell over Freeman.
Barth, yes. But Lindell?? Too risky. He missed, we gave the Saints a short field. Bad decision.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
@ Couch Fan..did you watch the game? Please explain to me how they would have had to score a touchdown AND go for 2 to win the game had we converted on the FG?
September 15th, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Walter – “If we scored the field goal it would have only put us up by 4, so New Orleans would only need a TD, not a 2pt conversion.”
You just proved Couch Fans absolute lack of football knowledge. Congrats!
September 15th, 2013 at 11:22 pm
Ok so im tired and wasnt thinking right. The field goal would of forced them to go for a TD instead of a FG which was no give me considering our D was pretty dominate. So sue me for the typo…. still doesnt change the fact the call was right… idiots. And Freeman sucks!! Start Glennon, GO BUCS!!
September 15th, 2013 at 11:24 pm
LMAO, Couch! Im done with you. You are without a doubt, an uneducated Football observer. Just watching the Bucs so you can hate on Freeman.. wow. You psycho.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:25 pm
dude, Couch, your words dont amount to sh!t from this point on….. Not that it ever did.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:27 pm
it was the right call…the miss is on the kicker. a 47 yarder, c’mon mang.
gruden would have made the same call, dungy would have made the same call.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:28 pm
Like I really give a crap about what you think? Your nothing more than a piece of sh!t Freeman loving loser. Start Glennon! GO BUCS!!
September 15th, 2013 at 11:30 pm
Martin had more yards rushing than Freeman had passing. Running was the right choice. The field goal try was within range, and even if you miss on both we still had the lead. And our defense was the only reason we were in the game. They contributed 6 PTS and set up the short field off the other turnover. They had already stopped saints on the goaline. Freeman Would have thrown an int or gave up a sack putting us out of field goal range.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:34 pm
Lol damn Couch Fan, hating pretty hard tonight huh?
September 15th, 2013 at 11:36 pm
I think some are missing the dumb call. Of course the 4th and 6 was a good call to attempt the fg. It was 3rd and 6 to run it that was dumb. Freeman throws an incomplete pass and you still can kick the fg with little time on the clock.
But you can CLOSE the game with a1st down on the 3rd down chance
Which is better. Bree’s on the field down by 4 with a minute left or Bree’s OFF the field with NO time left.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:37 pm
Stupid autocorrect.. *brees
September 15th, 2013 at 11:40 pm
I don’t understand how this lose can be schianos fault. Freeman was horrible, that ball he threw to v jax for the touchdown that got reversed due to a penalty, was just freeman throwing it up and having v jax out jump and our position the defender, it wasn’t a talented throw it was a throw up for grabs throw. Freeman threw some that should’ve been caught but he continues to struggle and absolutely doesn’t take ownership of the offense. Freeman’s numbers are horrendous. When your RB is having a great game and your QB looks lost give it to the RB and if he doesn’t get it the kicker should make the field goal. He’s paid to kick and that’s it his only job is to kick.
That kick goes in games over and everyone thinks schiano made a great call
September 15th, 2013 at 11:43 pm
Lol damn Couch Fan, hating pretty hard tonight huh?
———————————————
I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t.
September 15th, 2013 at 11:51 pm
@Couch Fan
Question: Lets say Freeman sucks ass next week, would you rather have him start against Arizona and THEN let Glennon have an extra week to prepare for Philly, or just have him start against Arizona too?
2nd Question: Now, assuming Glennon starts after the bye week, that gives him a 12 game test drive. So, how many games would Glennon have to win in order to earn the starting job for next year if it were your decision to make?
September 16th, 2013 at 12:12 am
If its up to me. I start Glennon ASAP. That way you have given him as much game time as possible in order to make a good decision on whether you need to spend a high draft pick on a QB or stick with him.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:13 am
And as far as how many he would have to have… I wouldn’t put a number out there. You just need to figure out if he’s good enough to continue to give a chance to start next year or not.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:14 am
wins he would have to have*
September 16th, 2013 at 12:21 am
@Couch Fan
Normally I’d agree that there isn’t necessarily a number of games he needs to win, but this team is built to win now, so I’d need to see him win at least half of the games he starts if I were going to give him the job for next year. Any less than that, I’d make it an open competition between Glennon and whichever QB we draft.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:23 am
Open competition is good. Even if Glennon played great I’d still be in favor of an open competition. Lets not just hand over any jobs here or we might get freemanized again.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:28 am
@Couch Fan
Which QB would you draft?
September 16th, 2013 at 12:38 am
Not sure. I like a few of them. My top 3 though are Bridgewater, Boyd and Murray. I love Manzeil also but… I just dont know if he’s mature enough.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:50 am
@Couch Fan
I’m wary of Manziel, not only for his stupidity, but also his size, arm strength, and style of play. A lot of bust potential with him.
Boyd I like a lot, Bridgewater too, totally forgot about Murray.
If it were up to me, I’d take either Boyd or Hundley, unless I have a shot at Bridgewater of course.
September 16th, 2013 at 12:57 am
So that means Freeman’s record would have been 7 and 15 had the DEFENSE not let Brees and company drive down field with seconds left and kick a game winning FG again? After all, Freeman was not on the field. We had the lead when he left the field.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:00 am
I keep trying to catch a game with this Fells guy I keep hearing about but havent had any luck yet. He’s another one to keep an eye on.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:10 am
@Couch Fan
That’s the one from Ole Miss right? Lit up the Longhorns yesterday. I too haven’t actually seen him play yet, barely heard about him the other day.
Regardless, there will be plenty of options for the Bucs to choose from.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:16 am
I have always been hard on Freeman but some of you will never give credit where it is due. Look at it like this.
Freeman pass 7.
Freeman pass 7 Called back dumb ass lineman
Foster Int 7
Lyndell 3 Missed.
Can you add. In case you can’t that’s 24. Freeman threw for what should have been 14 drove for what should have been 3. Had the pass not been called back, who threw more TD in the game? Who threw more Int.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:16 am
David Fales QB 7 San Jose State Sr 6-2 220 2-3
This one. But yes plenty of options and a long time to thoroughly scout them all.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:22 am
@Couch Fan
Well, hopefully they do their due diligence, it’s a critical decision, one that could determine whether we become playoff contenders or cellar dwellers again.
Oh, and I enjoyed this conversation. It’s nice to have a football discussion without having to fight.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:30 am
Lol agreed, I’m always up for good discussions. And with that I need to get to bed. I’m sure we will have many more discussions as the season goes on. Talk to ya next time. Start Glennon! GO BUCS!
September 16th, 2013 at 1:47 am
Only problem with that statement is that Payton has a history of going for it. He even went for today on 4th down.
September 16th, 2013 at 1:48 am
Dumb
September 16th, 2013 at 1:54 am
What the hell has happened to this team and its fans over the past decade? When is this crap going to end? And this current state of the Bucs is all too familiar. Can I just say 1997 all over again?AAAAAAAWWWWWWWEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!
September 16th, 2013 at 5:05 am
Couch and stevek will be happy to know mcbuc is now part of the mob. Glennon can not do any worse, and it feels like the team is giving up on josh.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:09 am
Let me get this straight…the coach that took points off the board, said Schiano made the right call. Oh well, now I feel a lot better about things. Nowhere to go but up Im afraid.
September 16th, 2013 at 5:11 am
Hey Black Magic….97 was a good year with a playoff home victory, 10-6 and good QB play from Dilfer for 3/4 of the year. Im hoping you meant 87
September 16th, 2013 at 5:44 am
Walter. I say maje the switch today and start preparing glennon for the pats. I cannot defend freeman any longer. Waisted potential.
September 16th, 2013 at 7:22 am
I would support an inferior division rival too! Of course he is defending him. If Lame Kiffin were the Buc’s coach he would be telling us how great he is.
September 16th, 2013 at 8:52 am
tough to take from the winning coach that would have put the ball in the air if it was his decision. I would rather him say Schiano called a risky play and it paid off with a win for the bucs.
September 16th, 2013 at 9:27 am
To all the people hating on the decision to run. What if Freeman throws an incomplete pass? Brees would have had almost another minute to do his thing. I like the decision to put it in your kicker’s hands. That’s what they are there for.
I really miss Connor Barth…