Tag: two point conversion

Spencer Rattler weighs in on what went wrong during Saints’ two-point try

Spencer Rattler voiced his thoughts on the Saints going for two points, and what went wrong in the pivotal attempt:

Spencer Rattler and the New Orleans Saints did not get the outcome they were after when they faced the Washington Commanders, falling 20-19 at the Caesars Superdome on Sunday afternoon.

One of the biggest talking points after a game that was much more closely contested than it was originally expected to be was the insane way it ended. Rattler and the Saints scored a touchdown with no time remaining to defy the odds in a comeback effort.

But, some may say interim coach Darren Rizzi got a little too greedy there at the end, which would have likely otherwise been termed “playing to win” if things had worked out.

The aggressive effort to go for two points and the win instead of kicking the extra point and sending the game to overtime did not pay off. And, of course it yielded some criticism. That’s how these things go.

Rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler, who took over for a benched Jake Haener after roughly two quarters of action, gave his thoughts on the mentality behind going for it all at the end of the game.

“We knew before the drive. We wanted to go down there and win the game. I think that’s the mindset our whole team had,” Rattler told reporters after the game. “I’m proud of the team, nobody flinched that whole game.”

He didn’t have any quibble with it and made clear that this wasn’t a last-minute decision, but rather one that the Saints went into the possession having made up already.

After the Foster Moreau touchdown, Rattler was unable to locate an open target in the end zone, and a fastball to Juwan Johnson fell incomplete when the tight end dropped the ball.

“I thought Juwan got held,” Rattler added, “but there are good players in this league. It is tough to make those plays. I liked the aggression. I liked what we did there.”

Something to watch as the Saints head down the final stretch of the schedule is if they will roll with Rattler permanently until Carr is able to return from injury. Rizzi has not given any clear indication as to who will be taking  snaps for the Saints moving forward.

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WATCH: Saints tie the game on huge two-point conversion catch by Dante Pettis

WATCH: Saints wideout Dante Pettis makes a spectacular grab to tie the game with a two-point conversion against the Rams

The New Orleans Saints were able to tie their matchup with the Los Angeles Rams in the fourth quarter on the back of a Marquez Valdes-Scantling touchdown, and then a Dante Pettis two-point conversion catch. The play by Dante Pettis was pretty spectacular, as Derek Carr had to throw off his back foot which caused the pass to be underthrown, and Pettis was able to come back to the ball and snag it over the top of Darious Williams. This tied the game at 14 points a piece, and brought the Saints back into contention as they were previously down 14 to 6.

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Chase Young’s long-awaited sack didn’t even count

Chase Young’s long-awaited third sack against the Carolina Panthers was all for naught. The play didn’t count, and the box score shut him out:

Chase Young only had two sacks over the course of eight games with the New Orleans Saints, and even though his drought ended against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, it was all for naught.

Young’s sack on Panthers quarterback Bryce Young occurred on a two-point try in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter and therefore did not ultimately count. He was shut out on the box score.

And, to make matters even worse, it happened in a game the Saints lost so closely, falling 23-22 to the Panthers.

He came into the game with — and still totals for that matter — 18 combined tackles (11 solo) with two sacks and one pass defensed. As a player who was formerly a second overall pick, he has far from lived up to the expectations of what he was supposed to be coming out of Ohio State.

The Saints now sit on a seven-game losing streak with a legitimate case to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. Getting back to the right side of the win column will be essential as New Orleans continues its season against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 10.

That’s going to be a tough task given just how hot the Falcons are right now, coming off of a 27-21 win over the Dallas Cowboys as firmly the best team in the NFC South.

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Alvin Kamara broke another Saints franchise record with his latest two-point conversion

Alvin Kamara broke another Saints franchise record with his latest two-point conversion. He’s also now tied with Travis Kelce for the league lead among active players:

Look, times are tough for the New Orleans Saints these days, and we’ll take our doses of positivity when we can. So it’s worth celebrating Alvin Kamara’s latest accomplishment — not long after the dynamic running back broke Marques Colston’s record for touchdowns scored in a Saints uniform, Kamara laid claim to another record: the team’s high-water mark for two-point conversions.

Kamara went into last week’s game with the Jacksonville Jaguars locked in a tie with his old teammate Mark Ingram II, both players having successfully converted four two-point tries in their Saints careers. But Kamara caught a quick pass from Derek Carr to walk into the end zone untouched for his fifth two-point conversion. That play tied the game after a frightful first three quarters, though the Saints ultimately weren’t able to pull off the win.

Still, it’s just the latest achievement in Kamara’s impressive NFL career. Hopefully he and Carr can link up with more scoring plays like this one to help the Saints offense get back on track, though you’d like to see Carr taking greater advantage of the talent stacked up for him at wide receiver in most situations.

As for Kamara: his five successful two-point conversions are now tied with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for the most among active players, matching the career totals of Pro Football Hall of Famers Cris Carter, Marvin Harrison, and Edgerrin James in a ten-way tie for sixth-place in NFL history. Four players are ahead of them in a tie for second place with six two-point scores (including Ingram, who did it twice in 2019 with the Baltimore Ravens), but everyone is trailing the legendary Marshall Faulk, whose seven two-point conversions are the most in NFL history. Kamara has a real shot at going the distance and surpassing even Faulk someday — strengthening his own Hall of Fame candidacy.

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Watch: “Irish Intel” Features ‘95 Notre Dame Rout of USC

Next up it was Ron Powlus’ turn as the 1995 blowout of USC was discussed, specifically a broken down two point conversion that wound up successful.

A sincere tip of the cap to the Notre Dame advanced media team for their efforts to entertain during the international pandemic. Literally everyone in the world has seen their lives change in one way or another in recent weeks and we’ve had to find new senses of normal.

One of those for me has come by those who run Notre Dame’s athletic media pages. Twitter, Facebook or YouTube have all been willing to take a chance and just try things. The Saturday night classic football replays have been fun to check out and the top-ten lists bring back both great memories and fun debates.

Another new segment or idea they’ve tried is “Irish Intel” where a significant play gets broken down. Earlier in the week the Women’s LaCrosse team got a chance to break down an impressive transition goal from this year.

Next up it was Ron Powlus’ turn as the 1995 blowout of USC was discussed, specifically a broken down two point conversion that wound up successful.

I’ve enjoyed the folks in this specific Notre Dame office taking chances and trying things. I remembered Notre Dame beating the tar out of USC in 1995 but I’d forgotten about the Powlus reception for two points.

It’s not anything earth-shattering by any means but it’s a fun roughly 140 seconds to take a trek down Memory Lane.

And anytime that trek involves a blowout of USC nobody here is really going to be upset, are they?

Drew Brees, Sean Payton don’t regret botched two-point conversions

The New Orleans Saints took an aggressive approach in their loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but Sean Payton and Drew Brees don’t regret it.

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The New Orleans Saints were determined to stay aggressive in their game with the San Francisco 49ers. They expected it to be a close game, where an extra possession or score here or there would ultimately make the difference. If you had told them going in that the final score would end up being just two points apart, they wouldn’t have been surprised.

Now, no one expected it to be 48-46 as time expired. The Saints didn’t take much solace in the success they had against the NFL’s best pass defense, but it’s impossible not to be encouraged by all of the scoring opportunities they created. Count Saints quarterback Drew Brees among the group who was happy to be competitive in so many high-leverage situations.

“You know you’re in that type of game, right?” Brees said during his postgame media availability. “We’re going to play aggressive. We faked the punt. We brought just about (every) kickoff out of the endzone and hit on a couple of those. We had a great return there. Let’s see if we can break one of these.”

Saints coach Sean Payton wasn’t nearly as eager to get into the specifics of his team’s approach. Still smarting from the loss, Payton summed up his decision to go for it on an early two-point conversion moved up by a 49ers penalty as, “Flag puts it at the one (yard line). That’s why.”

Fortunately, Brees was feeling more amiable to explain his team’s thinking in that situation: “Those are difference makers. If you just look at the statistics if you’re going from the two-yard line versus going from the one-yard line it’s a big difference. We had a play we liked. Oddly enough, they miss a line(backer). They had an extra guy who shouldn’t have been there.”

As Brees said, that first two-point try was snuffed out by the unexpected 49ers defender, who crashed down on the ball-carrier unblocked. A miscommunication between Brees and his receiver on a later two-point attempt failed to add any points, but these are obviously gambles the Saints are comfortable making.

“So, unfortunately, the play didn’t work,” Brees continued, “but that’s a big play in the game if we get (it). We’re going to play aggressive. We’re going to take chances. We’re not going to making excuses.”

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