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

[falconut-1991]

I don't have an issue with it at all. It did bother me that they couldn't stop NO on 3rd down. It's been an issue more times than not. Maybe this beatdown will force them to get a new DC in the offseason. He just isn't an NFL level coordinator.

[DirtybyrdGA]

I'm suprized he didn't get it earlier in the game.

[Robb4242]

Was it classless? Not if running up the score were an isolated thing for the taints, but it isn't an isolated occurrence. Still bottom line is we should have stopped them from getting the record & that's on us.

Before we snapped that 4th down play, I said in chat we should either take a sack or take a knee at the 29 yard line so there was no way Brees could get that record.

[Resse]

I feel some of you but as a panther fan would it be fair that Brees save the last 30 yards for next week? He did most of the work breaking the record last night why should we be in the record book for giving up a pass for exactly 30 yards to Brees. Heck he could've pass for 30 yards next week get the record get knocked out of the game and we would be in the record book for being the team he broke the record against only giving up 30 yards to him.

I'm sorry you're defense earned that last night play better and it's not a problem.

[PokerSteve]

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.

Can't argue with that. Payton wanted the record in front of the home crowd and national television, the Falcons were powerless to stop the onslaught all night long. It's over and Brees is the new king of the forward pass. The Falcons will have to be content with their new standing as being the kings of amassing regular season wins vs inferior opponents then getting blown out by the good teams and in the first round of the play-offs.

[BankerBird™]

This is not a question of "right" or "wrong", it's a question of doing your job, and as much as it sucks to admit it, Payton and Brees were simply doing their job. Brees is on the field for one reason and one reason only: score points. And last night, Brees did his job exceptionally better than the Falcons defense did theirs. We're not talking ethics here, we're talking football. But, if there is an ethic involved, it's the Falcons work ethic versus the Saints work ethic. And as of last night, there is no comparison between the two, in my opinion.

[Falcons_own_nfc_south]

This is not a question of "right" or "wrong", it's a question of doing your job, and as much as it sucks to admit it, Payton and Brees were simply doing their job. Brees is on the field for one reason and one reason only: score points. And last night, Brees did his job exceptionally better than the Falcons defense did theirs. We're not talking ethics here, we're talking football. But, if there is an ethic involved, it's the Falcons work ethic versus the Saints work ethic. And as of last night, there is no comparison between the two, in my opinion.

Nailed it...

[Tribal Chief]

The Saints didn't do anything to the Falcons that the Falcons wouldn't have done to the Saints. If it was Ryan against the Saints, there would have been nothing said by our defenders. To make a long rant short, they should have stepped up and stopped all those big plays, plain and simple. Had we won the game, no one would even care about him breaking the record.

[FalconinPA]

The Saints didn't do anything to the Falcons that the Falcons wouldn't have done to the Saints. If it was Ryan against the Saints, there would have been nothing said by our defenders. To make a long rant short, they should have stepped up and stopped all those big plays, plain and simple. Had we won the game, no one would even care about him breaking the record.

True. Only thing is if Roddy had caught that last pass from Ryan for the record, today we would be trying to defend some of his post game tweets.

[Mid-Nite-Toker]

The Falcons should come ready to play.

You can't blame NO for whipping our butts and sending us to bed...the team should have slept well last night.

[BankerBird™]

The Saints didn't do anything to the Falcons that the Falcons wouldn't have done to the Saints. If it was Ryan against the Saints, there would have been nothing said by our defenders. To make a long rant short, they should have stepped up and stopped all those big plays, plain and simple. Had we won the game, no one would even care about him breaking the record.

This! ^^^

It was the Falcons defense that opened the door in the first place to the question of whether or not it was right for the Saints to run up the score. Hell, what were the Saints supposed to do, take Brees and their 1st-stringers out? That would have been an even worse commentary on how badly the Falcons defense was playing. If I'm Payton, I would have done the exact same thing. In fact, I'll go as far as to say it wasn't that the Saints "ran up" the score, it was that the Falcons defense wasn't good enough to stop them from scoring. It's really as simple as that.

[Mid-Nite-Toker]

This is not a question of "right" or "wrong", it's a question of doing your job, and as much as it sucks to admit it, Payton and Brees were simply doing their job. Brees is on the field for one reason and one reason only: score points. And last night, Brees did his job exceptionally better than the Falcons defense did theirs. We're not talking ethics here, we're talking football. But, if there is an ethic involved, it's the Falcons work ethic versus the Saints work ethic. And as of last night, there is no comparison between the two, in my opinion.

END of story.

[Tribal Chief]

True. Only thing is if Roddy had caught that last pass from Ryan for the record, today we would be trying to defend some of his post game tweets.

Oh lord, I can just imagine what would have been said if that had happened lol

[theProf]

Was it classless? Not if running up the score were an isolated thing for the taints, but it isn't an isolated occurrence. Still bottom line is we should have stopped them from getting the record & that's on us.

Payton himself even acknowledged that the way they broke the record did not show much class:

"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 appears to like records and dominating offensive performances moreso than sportsmanship and class. You are correct in that this is not an isolated occurance with the Saints. However, I'm really not adamantly against what the Saints did.

This is pro football, and these players and coaches get paid a lot of money to do their respective jobs. Records and impressive wins, especially over rivals, usually mean more money for the players and coaches over the long-run. Therefore, sportsmanship is probably more appropriate at the amateur level than at the pro level. I think Spoon's comments best reflect how I feel:

"“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.”

[fly_falcon_fly]

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

BS ! That maybe your way of wimping out but I did not expect Falcons to do it. But I *do not * want opponent to take pity on us. It does not matter if we lose by 10 or 30. At the end we lost. Asking for pity is worse than quitting. Die fighting till the end.

[adectus2112]

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.

Grow up. Being a Saints fan, I am not too fond of White or Ryan. I would never want to see one of those guys get hurt, especially on purpose. Every team in the league has people who post on the boards just as you did (saints included). I understand you do not like what happen, but instead of wishing injury on a player, you can take a min to post something a little more relevant or maybe just not post at all. Have a good day.

[BankerBird™]

Payton himself even acknowledged that the way they broke the record did not show much class:

"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 appears to like records and dominating offensive performances moreso than sportsmanship and class. You are correct in that this is not an isolated occurance with the Saints. However, I'm really not adamantly against what the Saints did.

This is pro football, and these players and coaches get paid a lot of money to do their respective jobs. Records and impressive wins, especially over rivals, usually mean more money for the players and coaches over the long-run. Therefore, sportsmanship is probably more appropriate at the amateur level than at the pro level. I think Spoon's comments best reflect how I feel:

"“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.”

Spoon pretty much sums up my sentiments right there.

[Darkflight]

Yes. Next question.

[falcon1200]

I see no point bring this up. Who care what they want to do when we can't stop them on the ground or air.

[Darkflight]

I had no problem with the Saints leaving Brees in. The fact that he was ripping through our defense like a hot knife through butter was what got ME upset. I'm with the others that said "If you don't like it, STOP THEM".

It's embarrassing to even have our fans whining about this. I would love to see the Falcons completely stomp the life out of a Saints team. We're to busy being average and classy.

[Saint55]

BS ! That maybe your way of wimping out but I did not expect Falcons to do it. But I *do not * want opponent to take pity on us. It does not matter if we lose by 10 or 30. At the end we lost. Asking for pity is worse than quitting. Die fighting till the end.

Couldn't have said it better myself. And ya know, most of us have experienced this in our own lives. Anyone play any FPS games? BF3, MW? Or Madden? One of your friends is whooping up on you, and you get all pissed because they'll be like "Hey we can just quit, start a new game, it's cool." Or they start running the ball just to punt, giving you a chance to put up some stats? I've been there...and it irritates the heck out of me. Same with shooters. I don't want sympathy. I want to get better, I want to earn what I get against the best, not because somebody "eased up" and handed it to me.

[dmo_dlo]

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.

I agree that this is the least of our problems but there is no way in the world that a Smith-led team would have gone for the record like the Saints did. I will never happen.

[Saint55]

It's embarrassing to even have our fans whining about this. I would love to see the Falcons completely stomp the life out of a Saints team. We're to busy being average and classy.

And as a Saints fan, I would totally and completely respect the Falcons for stomping our faces in. I would hate it, but I'd respect it. To show up and shut our mouths, give back a beating. That's how you handle business. And if it happens, I don't want the Falcon's to "mail in at the end". If I lose, I want to lose to the best, playing their best...for the full 60 minutes. I'd be more ticked off at the Rams loss than if we were to get blown out 50-14 against the Falcons.

[FRALIC]

Grow up. Being a Saints fan, I am not too fond of White or Ryan. I would never want to see one of those guys get hurt, especially on purpose. Every team in the league has people who post on the boards just as you did (saints included). I understand you do not like what happen, but instead of wishing injury on a player, you can take a min to post something a little more relevant or maybe just not post at all. Have a good day.

Oh its relevant who dat if the Falcons had any kind of killer instinct somebody would have laid out Brees for trying to run up the score on a game that was over period. Screw Brees they want him in there late trying to pad the stats his head knees whatever should have been fair game. Have a good day.

[dmo_dlo]

This was a classless move, there is no question about that. The record was an accomplishment so I could understand if this was the last game of the season. Being in front of the fans is no justification either. Fans will always want their team to run up the score; it's the unwritten etiquette of the game which prevents classy coaches from doing so. Payton certainly isn't a classy coach and he has shown it time and again. But then again with all these ultra young coaches getting into the league maybe the etiquette is changing because these days we see classless acts way more than we did before.

All that said, it's even more classless for Falcon players and coaches to speak about it (and to their credit they don't seem to have spoken much about it). If they are bothered by this classless act, they better find a way to answer it next time they meet.

Edited December 27, 2011 by dmo_dlo