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After defeating the Denver Broncos last week, Sean Payton joined an exclusive group of NFL head coaches to have beaten every team in the league except for their own. And when the accomplishment was brought up during an appearance on WWL Radio this week, the New Orleans Saints coach had to take a moment and laugh at his own expense.
“It’s 32 teams, including the Saints,” Payton assured hosts Bobby Hebert and Zach Strief, looking back at one of his worst blunders in the first years of his tenure in New Orleans.
He continued: “Tampa Bay at home, 2007, we’re up by four, we run the double reverse and fumble it. I beat the Saints, too.”
That ugly end-of-game sequence saw Reggie Bush cough up the first of two Saints fumbles in the fourth quarter against the Buccaneers, with the Saints leading 23-20 at midfield. The loose ball was recovered by Tampa Bay defensive lineman Jovan Haye, who set up Luke McCown to drive downfield and extend the visitors’ lead over the Saints with a 4-yard touchdown pass.
Haye would bag a sack-fumble off of Drew Brees minutes later to close out the game, handing Payton the 14th loss of his brief career as an NFL head coach. He clearly learned a lot from that embarrassing gaffe, though the double reverse has popped up here and there since then. But credit the Saints for practicing better ball security over the years.
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