Yahoo Sports: Were Saints Right To Run Up Score For Brees’ Record?

[theProf]

Were Saints right to run up score for Brees’ record?

By Jason Cole, Yahoo! Sports

NEW ORLEANS – Drew Brees tucked the record-setting ball in his oversized brown leather bag as a reporter asked him if it was one day headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

“They already got my uniform,” Brees said with equal parts incredulity and amazement, and a dash of humor as he smiled. The New Orleans quarterback got everything he, his team and Saints fans could have wanted in a 45-16 humiliation of the Atlanta Falcons on Monday night.

There was the NFC South title, at least one home game in the playoffs, a sweep of archrival Atlanta and the topper of all: Brees breaking Dan Marino’s all-time record for passing yards in a season on his final throw of the game.

The lingering question that surrounds the whole thing is just how classy the move was and, more important, if Atlanta can do anything about it. The 9-6 Falcons will return to 12-3 New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs if the NFC seeding holds form after the final week of the season.

Will the fact that the Saints essentially ran up the score matter to the Falcons?

After the game, the Falcons said all the right things. Atlanta coach Mike Smith congratulated the “classy” Brees for the accomplishment. However, underneath that, those close to him said Smith was seething over the move.

Up 38-16 with 5:08 remaining, New Orleans stopped Atlanta on downs at the Falcons’ 33-yard line. At that moment, Brees needed 30 yards to break Marino’s record. To some, this would have been a time to run the clock out and head home with a victory. New Orleans coach Sean Payton saw it as a time to go for the record. With a packed house and a national television audience watching, Payton made a choice that those who value sportsmanship will undoubtedly hate. He called for passes on five of the next six plays as Brees put up 32 yards to run his total to 5,087 yards for the season, passing Marino’s mark of 5,084, set in 1984.

Classy? Not so much, and Payton pretty much admitted that when he said he stretched his ethical standards for this situation.

“Someone is going to ask this question, so I am going to answer it before it’s asked,” Payton said. “Typically, would I be throwing there? … probably not. In fact, the answer is I wouldn’t be. But I thought it was appropriate to get [the record] and we did it.”

Payton went on to say, “We have a ton of respect for Mike [smith], his staff and the players we just played against. It seemed like the right thing to do. As a coach, a lot of times you trust your gut and you either get complimented or criticized and you go from there. I felt real good about the decision.”

This rivalry has featured its share of ugly moments, such as last year in Atlanta after the Saints beat the Falcons. Approximately a dozen New Orleans players returned to the field and pretended to urinate on the Georgia Dome field. Early in this game, Saints running back Pierre Thomas pulled a Christmas bow out of his uniform pants after scoring a touchdown, put it on the ball and handed it to a fan in the stands. Payton called that move “uncharacteristic.”

Likewise, Brees said, “I hope Mike Smith knows that. We weren’t trying to run up the score or anything.”

Maybe so and Brees is one of the classiest guys in the NFL. He was named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year in 2010 for leading the Saints to the Super Bowl victory and for his charity work in New Orleans. But you can’t say that you’re not trying to run up the score when you actually are running up the score.

For their part, Falcons players didn’t seem too upset. Then again, it’s hard to act indignant after you just allowed your opponent to put up 45 points.

“No man, it’s our job to stop them,” said linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, who missed New Orleans running back Darren Sproles on the record-setting play. “I can’t say I’m upset by them running up the score or anything like that when I had a chance to make a play.”

Said wide receiver Roddy White: “We didn’t make plays. We had to make plays, stop them and do our job, not worry about what they’re doing. Now, in a couple of weeks if we have to come back here, I might feel different. [but] not now.”

And Brees did his best to squelch any problem by being, well, himself. He talked about sharing the moment with so many people, from every teammate to the equipment people to even the media. After the game, his teammates made him give an impromptu speech.

“They forced me to speak,” Brees said. “This record isn’t about one person. There may just be one person that goes on the ledger, but it’s really about the team. I want every man years from now, hopefully a lot of championships from now, to be able to look back and say I blocked for that guy when it happened or a guy on defense say that they had a big stop that gave the ball back to those guys. I want a receiver to say that they caught 50 balls that year for 600 of those yards. I want everyone to feel like they were a huge part of this.”

With that in mind, what did Brees expect to do with the ball?

“I wish I had 150 of them to give out to the team and everybody in the building. I guess we could cut it up. I don’t know. I guess the ball itself is not as important to me as the memory, because that’s something that will live forever.”

http://sports.yahoo....o_falcons112711

[alwaysbelieve]

doesn't matter if they were right or not, our defense should stop saying "IT'S CLASSLESS, BLAH BLAH BLAH" WHY DONT U FUKEN STOP THEM THEN U *******

[birdz4i]

yep. like one of the commentators said last night. you don t like it, you re professionals, stop em.

[Saint55]

Am I the only one who feels more insulted when a team takes out their starters because they don't want to "run up the score"? To me that's way more embarrassing than them scoring 20 more points. That's what you do for your kids because you don't want them to feel too bad about themselves. This should be one of the 1400 tequila commercials..."Real men don't want you to take out their starters. They want to STOP your starters". I don't want no "sympathy" for my team's suck. I want them to man up and stop them.

And regardless. This was a very unique scenario with a record on the line. That's all this was about. And it's not fair to Brees that she should NOT get that record because we're not supposed to make the Falcons feel bad.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Saint55

[FalconMama]

Ehh if the roles were reversed the Falcons would have probably went for it too. Trust me, this is way down on the list of problems that the Falcons have.

[john_winger]

Marino passed for his record yards in 14 games. I guess I am the only one that understands that.

It took the current baghead god 15 games to do that. Sorry, I understand math.

[blackredfellow]

I will ALWAYS stand behind this team, but Im sorry you cant complain about it after the fact.

Mike Smith should be more upset with the way this defense played. He should be seething that we had to settle for three FGs when TDs would have made this look less like they were "running it up".

[netrto4150]

If Smithy is a real HC then he should be looking at his organization and seething at them for not getting the players, having the ability to coach talent and then executing a game! 10 Days! 10 Freaking days to prepare to be made to look like a cheap hooker.

[blackredfellow]

Marino passed for his record yards in 14 games. I guess I am the only one that understands that.

It took the current baghead god 15 games to do that. Sorry, I understand math.

Actually the NFL had went to the 16 game season years before that. Marino broke the record in game 16.

[falfan68]

Yeah, pity the poor defenseless Atlanta Falcons that Drew Brees took advantage of. C'mon. These are men here. Who told the Falcons' D to stop playing before the game even started? Was that first long ball Brees shot as his first play of the game a cheap shot too? Falcons got whipped because they didn't play. It's painful to see Brees break his record vs. us but it's more troubling to see grown Falcons crying like little girls. They need to man up before the playoffs.

Edited December 27, 2011 by falfan68

[FRALIC]

When you have a guy trying to put a 40 burger on you in the dying minutes of the game a penalty or fine go out the window somebody from this hapless Falcon defence should have tried to take him out. That would have been justice but obviously no one could get anywhere near him. Spear him, helmet to helmet whatever as long as hes not able to walk off under his own power.

[Grrrillapmpn Inc.®]

Don't want them to run up the score? Then how about making them ******* punt?!?!

[FalconinPA]

Am I the only one who feels more insulted when a team takes out their starters because they don't want to "run up the score"? To me that's way more embarrassing than them scoring 20 more points. That's what you do for your kids because you don't want them to feel too bad about themselves. This should be one of the 1400 tequila commercials..."Real men don't want you to take out their starters. They want to STOP your starters". I don't want no "sympathy" for my teams suck. I want them to man up and stop them.

And regardless. This was a very unique scenario with a record on the line. That's all this was about. And it's not fair to Brees that she should NOT get that record because we're not supposed to make the Falcons feel bad.

No, I like to see a beat down. I get offended when teams take their starters out. Alot of Falcons fans would like to see us give a team a beat down. It just doesn't happen to often. It is good to see sometimes. After we beat the lowly Jaguars down, alot of fans were pizzed because we took the starters out.

Now, I definitely don't like to see the Falcons get a beat down. Some of the same Falcon fans are saying that the Saints ran up the score. No, we let the Saints run up the score. Last time I checked, it the Falcons job to stop them from scoring or putting up points to try and win the game. We failed at both.Why do we always lay a big ole gooesey on national tv when we need it most?

Doesn't feel to good when you are the object of the beat down.

[vabchbirdlover]

Helll yeah, why not? See,that's what differrniates the teams with killer instincts and the nice guy mentality types (Smitty) and the rest of the best

Edited December 27, 2011 by vabchbirdlover

[beernuts]

sorry, I think it was classless - if it was the last game of the season, or if they did not have a meaningless game at home next week, I would feel different - but they are going to play Brees enough to get 30 passing yards next week and they could have done it then

I understand the "if you don't want him to break the record stop him" theory - but I thought it was rubbing the Falcons faces in it given the circumstances

[Saint55]

Yeah, pity the poor defenseless Atlanta Falcons that Drew Brees took advantage of. C'mon. These are men here. Who told the Falcons' D to stop playing before the game even started? Was that first long ball Brees shot as his first play of the game a cheap shot too? Falcons got whipped because they didn't play. It's painful to see Brees break his record vs. us but it's more troubling to see grown Falcons crying like little girls. They need to man up before the playoffs.

Amen. That's how every fan should feel when their team in a blowout. We want to see some pride. We want to see them fight because that's what they love to do...even if they have no chance of winning. I hate seeing my team cry "they were big meanies and made us feel worse by not letting us regain some of our dignity. They hurt my feelings."

Now, that said, I don't mind a team running the ball to kill time within 3 or so minutes...but when a record is on the line, you go for it. Whether it's against my team, or my team doing it to another team. Can't be mad about that.

[Saint55]

sorry, I think it was classless - if it was the last game of the season, or if they did not have a meaningless game at home next week, I would feel different - but they are going to play Brees enough to get 30 passing yards next week and they could have done it then

I understand the "if you don't want him to break the record stop him" theory - but I thought it was rubbing the Falcons faces in it given the circumstances

Okay, let me ask you this: would it have been less embarrassing for us to put in our backups? That should feel more disrespectful than anything. Basically saying, "Well, since you guys are obviously so outmatched by our starters, here, we'll throw ya a bone so you don't feel so bad." I'd be more p!ssed at that than a team scoring a couple more times.

[beernuts]

Okay, let me ask you this: would it have been less embarrassing for us to put in our backups? That should feel more disrespectful than anything. Basically saying, "Well, since you guys are obviously so outmatched by our starters, here, we'll throw ya a bone so you don't feel so bad." I'd be more p!ssed at that than a team scoring a couple more times.

thats not the alternative - the alternative is running the ball up the gut three times and kicking, or if we cannot stop the run, scoring that way - but passing on 1st and 2nd down under those circumstances is, in my opinion, classless

[Peyton]

I have no problem with what the Saints did last night.

The Saints owe an obligation to their fans a lot more than they owe it to the Atlanta Falcons. Those fans were there to see Brees break that record, and Payton gave them what they came to see.

If the Falcons could have converted a 3rd and 1 or a 4th and 1, it wouldn't have even been an issue.

[Saint55]

I have no problem with what the Saints did last night.

The Saints owe an obligation to their fans a lot more than they owe it to the Atlanta Falcons. Those fans were there to see Brees break that record, and Payton gave them what they came to see.

If the Falcons could have converted a 3rd and 1 or a 4th and 1, it wouldn't have even been an issue.

And that's another good point. How upset would you be if you were at a home game with a chance to not only see, but experience history, and it was taken from you all because the other team was playing poorly? Not fair to those fans. Those fans will remember that moment for the rest of their lives. There are kids there that will tell stories about it to their grandkids. And it's not fair even to make Brees wait. It's not his fault. This was a memorable moment, on MNF, Primetime. Breaking it next week against the Panthers in an early game? Great, but not nearly as memorable.

[beernuts]

I have no problem with what the Saints did last night.

The Saints owe an obligation to their fans a lot more than they owe it to the Atlanta Falcons. Those fans were there to see Brees break that record, and Payton gave them what they came to see.

If the Falcons could have converted a 3rd and 1 or a 4th and 1, it wouldn't have even been an issue.

dont buy that - they are at home next week - you could just as easily say they stole the opportunity from the fans who bothered to buy tickets against a weaker Carolina team

[Saint55]

thats not the alternative - the alternative is running the ball up the gut three times and kicking, or if we cannot stop the run, scoring that way - but passing on 1st and 2nd down under those circumstances is, in my opinion, classless

And for the record, yes, that's usually how I prefer my team to handle it. Get the game over, get into the locker room, limit risks, etc. But not when a 27 year record is in reach. Any honest fan would want to see their guy/team get the record, regardless of the score.

[Club212]

Classless would be haveing your offense not get a first down on first or second downs, wait till the 3rd down & long & get it each time (play with the "D"). Oh, they did do that! Thanks to BVCLueless & the Bend,Break & hope for a turnover.

[beernuts]

And that's another good point. How upset would you be if you were at a home game with a chance to not only see, but experience history, and it was taken from you all because the other team was playing poorly? Not fair to those fans. Those fans will remember that moment for the rest of their lives. There are kids there that will tell stories about it to their grandkids. And it's not fair even to make Brees wait. It's not his fault. This was a memorable moment, on MNF, Primetime. Breaking it next week against the Panthers in an early game? Great, but not nearly as memorable.

I appreciate the way in which you are posting about this, and I have no doubt that I would be doing the same if the shoe were on the other foot - but the mere fact you are here defending this tells me (and you) that the decision is subject to criticism - you acknowledged earlier that running on 1st and 2nd down is protocol under the circumstances, your coach acknowledged even acknowledged that - so, yea, the Falcons should have stopped him - but I still think it was not very classy

[duncja]

Ehh if the roles were reversed the Falcons would have probably went for it too. Trust me, this is way down on the list of problems that the Falcons have.

Actually, if the roles were reversed, I don't think the Falcons would have gone with it, and THAT is a problem I have with them.

By "them" I mean the Falcons. I have no problem with the Saints going for it.