Tag: Mistakes

PFF names Saints’ worst draft mistake from past 5 years

PFF says the Saints’ biggest draft mistake from the last 5 years was trading up for Marcus Davenport. It’s tough to argue with that:

There’s no other way to look back on Marcus Davenport’s five years with the New Orleans Saints than as a disappointment. Between injuries and inconsistent play, he hasn’t lived up to the hype as a player they invested multiple draft picks in acquiring. After playing in 67 of 87 possible games, including the playoffs, Davenport has yielded just 21.5 sacks and 7 forced fumbles, with 26 tackles for loss. By year’s end he was playing behind former undrafted free agents who had outproduced him.

And the decision to trade up for Davenport was cited as the Saints’ worst draft-day mistake in the last five years by Pro Football Focus draft analyst Mike Renner, who gave the Saints a lot of credit for their success scouting other college prospects. But he can’t overlook their big miss on No. 92:

“The Saints have owned the single-best draft hit rate in the NFL over the past five seasons, bar none. Even the Davenport pick is difficult to call a miss when considering his performance when healthy. It’s a tough pill to swallow, though, given that Green Bay walked away from that draft after the trade with the better player (Jaire Alexander) and the Saints’ 2019 first-rounder while Davenport failed to make a consistent impact.”

The Saints have caught some heat for errors in the draft’s first round in recent years, whether it’s trading up for Davenport, betting big on center-guard convert Cesar Ruiz, or passing on better prospects in favor of Payton Turner. So it’s a good thing they’ve done well in the draft’s other rounds. Second- and third-round picks like Erik McCoy, Pete Werner, Paulson Adebo, and Alontae Taylor have all played heavy snaps. The jury is out on one of last year’s two first rounders, Trevor Penning, but Chris Olave is an award-winning step in the right direction. Hopefully the Saints can start a trend of productive early-round draft picks after a couple of misfires.

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4 roster mistakes the Saints must fix in the offseason

The Saints may have misevaluated the state of some position groups this past offseason, but it helps identify their needs to address in 2023:

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They’ve got another chance to prove us wrong on Sunday afternoon, but it’s looking like the New Orleans Saints misevaluated just how competitive they’d be this season. They haven’t won two consecutive games going into Week 12 and they’re ranked at third-place in maybe the worst division in the NFL this year.

So what went wrong? And how can they right the ship? Unfortunately, meaningful change won’t come about until the offseason, but their midseason woes are helpful in putting together a list of priorities come 2023. Here are four mistakes that need fixing once the season is over:

Pete Carroll on Seahawks’ 2nd preseason loss: ‘We’ll learn from this’

With only one preseason game left on the books, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is hoping his team can learn from their earlier mistakes.

The Seattle Seahawks were manhandled Thursday night in front of the 12th Man and a national audience when they fell 27-11 to the Chicago Bears. Mistakes were made on both sides of the ball.

“Man, there just seems to be so many lessons for us right here,” caoch Pete Carroll said after the loss. “We have a big list. And there’s some really obvious things, just trying to win a football game, the penalties and the special teams, the gimmes, the 100 yards in returns, something like that, setting up scores and all. It’s really hard to win when you play like that. It’s hard enough anyway.

“So there’s big lessons.”

So what exactly is a head coach to do with only one preseason game left on the books? Of course Carroll has a plan and he’s not blaming the mistakes just on the short week.

“I have to really zero in on the guys that are having the problems, like Charles (Cross) had problems on the line of scrimmage in this game, four penalties on procedure penalties and stuff that you can obviously clean up, little different situations,” Carroll explained. “But you have to get that out of your football. You can’t play football like that. It’s bad. And so we’ll learn a lot here. I’m not going to make any bellyaching about turning it around for Thursday night. We have to do that during the season. This is what you have to do, and we have to do it better than we did, regardless of what the travel was or whatever. That’s no excuse. You have to get it done and both teams have to play fast.

“We’ll learn from this.”

Carroll and his coaching staff’s last preseason teachable moment in a game setting comes next Friday against the Cowboys. The Seahawks return to the practice field on Sunday to start preparations.

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Russell Wilson on his 3 interceptions: ‘I’ve got to be better’

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson stated that he has to improve following his three interceptions against Arizona on Sunday.

In the wake of the Seattle Seahawks’ 37-34 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals, Russell Wilson accepted blame for his three interceptions that played a significant role in the team’s defeat and stated that his and his teammates’ confidence will not be shot moving forward.

“I thought we played a great game except for those three plays, and those were my fault,” Wilson said after the game. “There’s so much that we can do, and we have so much confidence. Our confidence is not going to waiver. They’re a great football team, too. We knew it was going to be a battle; it always is down here whenever we play. Nothing really changed except for the fact that we just have to tighten up some things. I have to be better, which I’m looking forward to.”

Wilson stated that he and his teammates cannot afford to make mistakes in such crucial situations as they did on Sunday night, but he is excited to work towards improving himself however he can.

“I thought when we took the lead we had some mistakes as a team,” Wilson continued. “You can’t have those mistakes in close matchups like this. We had the lead and kind of lost it there in terms of not staying on schedule, especially on offense. We had an opportunity to close out the game, really twice, and we didn’t do our job as a team. It’s a team effort, and it starts with me. I look at me first, and I have to be better. I’m looking forward to being better.”

The Seahawks will have their chance to bounce back when they play the 49ers at home next week on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1:25 p.m. PT.

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Inconsistent week-to-week officiating is still hurting the snake-bit Saints

Stop if you’ve read this, but the New Orleans Saints were victims of an obscure NFL rule during their game with the San Francisco 49ers.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the New Orleans Saints were victimized by inconsistent officiating by the NFL’s referees and their crews. They may have drawn half as many penalties (5) as the San Francisco 49ers (10) on Sunday, but an officiating gaffe (and an obscure rule) still ended up costing New Orleans.

This time it came when Saints coach Sean Payton called a bold fake punt against the 49ers, in which quarterback Taysom Hill targeted wide receiver Tre’Quan Smith on a pass deep down the sideline. But Smith wasn’t able to turn and make a play on the ball due to an enveloping bear-hug from the 49ers player covering him.

And no penalty flags flew because of it. Payton raced over to confront referee John Hussey, who dismissed Payton’s concerns due to a rule stipulating that plays run out of a punt formation are ineligible for defensive pass interference fouls. FOX Sports NFL rules analyst Dean Blandino agreed with that ruling on the broadcast.

Payton agreed with it too, emphatically arguing that the play still qualified for a holding foul which would have kept the ball in the Saints’ control. To that, Hussey shook his head and walked away, leaving Payton rubbing his face in exasperation.

What’s troubling is that this rule — that punt plays are exempt from defensive pass interference penalties — wasn’t observed just a few weeks ago, when referee Craig Wrolstad fouled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for it on a fake punt pass by Arizona Cardinals punter Andy Lee.

So if this is truly what the rules state, why are the NFL’s officiating crews still messing up and hurting teams this late in the season? Why can’t they consistently call each game they work? The NFL either needs to stop pinching pennies and hire full-time, professional officials or look into automated referees, much like the “robot umpires” Major League Baseball is experimenting with. In a sport where one or two plays can make such a big difference, the NFL’s continued reliance on officials who can’t call a clean game from one week to the next is shaping into a crisis.

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