brees

Payton’s Happy Place

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Late last week the New Orleans Saints and it’s head coach Sean Payton agreed to a five year contract extension.  Terms weren’t disclosed but our guess is that it pays $10 million per year at a minimum.  It’s great work if you can get it.  Payton can buy most anything he wants with that kind of dough.  Except, remember, money cannot buy happiness.

And, by Sunday night Payton was not very happy.  The Saints got worked in the second half by the NFC reigning champion LA Rams, and lost 27-9.  But, it was who they lost and how they lost that raises the coach’s blood pressure.  Midway through the second quarter, Drew Brees injured his thumb and after surgery Monday will miss the next six weeks.  Brees has played 15 seasons for the team and has played in at least 15 games each of those years.  That healthy streak is done.

But another streak is three games long and perhaps growing.  If you have any blood pressure you know that in the NFC Championship game in January was greatly influenced by a blown referee call effectively sending the Saints home and the Rams to the Super Bowl.  The head of NFL officiating apologized to Payton shortly after the game.

Fast forward to week one of this season and the Saints were victims again.  This time an improper run off of the clock just prior to the half cost them a chance at a shorter field goal in a tight battle with the Texans. The head of NFL officiating apologized to Payton shortly after the game.  Sound familiar?

And, on Sunday, the Saints scooped up a late second quarter fumble in a 3-3 defensive slugfest and returned it 87 yards for a touchdown.  Except the head referee thought that Rams QB Jared Goff arm had started forward, hence he blew the whistle, and the call.  The Saints got the ball on their own ten yard line as a consolation prize.  After a three and out the Rams got a short field and kicked a field goal.  This was a seven or ten point swing(depending on how you see it) in a deadlocked game.  Game changer.  The head of NFL officiating apologized to Payton shortly after the game.  Sound familiar?

Which brings us to a question.  If money cannot buy happiness, can it buy better officiating?  There is no grand plot to sabotage the Saints.  But, there is a standard deviation or two outlier outcome that puts them on the wrong side of three game changing, horrible calls.  Enough already.

Which brings us to a question.  If the NFL sent a whopping $8.7 billion net after expenses to the teams to share in 2018, could they consider paying for full time referees?  Doesn’t every other league worth talking about have full time officiating?   Of course they do.

Players are asked, er, told, um, must weigh in at a specific team desired weight.  They train year round, attend offseason OTA’s, study film, report to a fall camp, play four preseason games, play seventeen regular season games, and play as many as four playoff games.   You miss any of this you get fined.  You play poorly you get fired.  But most of all, you dedicate yourself  24/7/365 for the good of the team and the respect of the game.  Is it too much for the NFL to dedicate time, training, money, and people to officiate the sanctimonious NFL game in the same manner?  If they did, they could make far less “I’m so sorry” calls.

Money ($7.25 million) did buy Teddy Bridgewater as the highest paid backup in the league to Drew Brees.  He now needs to be a bridge over troubled water for six weeks.  Hopefully that money spent will buy Sean Payton some happiness.

Well, that assumes that the part-time employment referees will break their blown calls streak like Brees’ broken thumb will break his.

 

 

Three Greats went Ohhhh for Eight.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Way back on October 3rd we told the story of how Patrick Mahomes very nearly became a New Orleans Saint.  Because of an astute and aggressive draft day trade he became a Kansas City Chief instead.  The link provided tells that interesting story in case you had not yet become a boomboomsroom.com reader.

Fast forward to today, January 18th.  My, how the story has advanced.  It’s likely when the MVP voting is done that Mahomes will win the award and edge out Drew Brees in doing so.  It’ll be a one/two finish for sure.  But, the even bigger story is that each of them will quarterback their teams this weekend in the AFC and NFC Championship Games.   The winners head to the Super Bowl in lovely Atlanta.  KC and NO are each three point favorites to do just that.

Should one or two slight upsets occur, Jared Goff and Tom Brady would lead either or both of the Rams and Patriots to the very lovely(ahem) and picturesque, beautiful Atlanta.  Therefore, regardless of the outcome of the games, a “franchise” quarterback will eventually lead his team to the podium to cherish the coveted Lombardi Trophy.  Brady and Brees are the old guard great qbs.  Goff and Mahomes are the up and coming ones.

Roger Goodell will (we hope and think) get booed loudly prior to the presentation.  But, we digress.

Super Bowl winners come in different shapes and sizes, but they usually have two things in common.  One, they have a real good or great coach.  And two, they have a real good or great quarterback.  There are outliers of course.  So, who might be those outliers?

We will begin to examine those very questions in our run up to the Super Bowl features starting today.  We will continue with them by the middle of next week. Today we examine the question “who is the best quarterback to participate in, but not ever win, a Super Bowl?”  Our take in reverse order is below.

3. Jim Kelly– The only qb to ever lose four Super Bowls, and four straight in 1990-1993 at that, was a first year eligible NFL Hall of             Fame inductee.  His K-Gun offense in Buffalo was electric.  He threw for over 35,000 yards and 287 touchdowns in his NFL                     career after spending two years in the USFL amassing formidable stats there as well.

2. Fran Tarkington– A three-time SB loser, Tarkington played for 18 NFL seasons in what was a different era.  Quarterbacks                       weren’t nearly as protected as today.  The HOF inductee lead almost all career statistical QB measurements when he retired. He             threw for over 47,000 yards and 342 touchdowns playing for the Vikings at the outset and conclusion of his career.  A five year                 NY Giants stint was sandwiched in between.

  1. Dan Marino– Marino soared with his Dolphins all the way to the big show in just his second year and first as a full-time starter.  It was a one way ticket as he never returned. His ticket to Canton was well-earned though.  In 17 distinguished NFL seasons he went to the playoffs ten times. He threw for over 61,000 yards, and tossed 420 touchdowns.   All of that and a bevy of game, season, and career records make him the clear choice for the “best ever to appear but never win.”   Not bad for being the fifth QB drafted in a QB heavy, famous 1983 class.

Kelly, Tarkington, and Marino are three of the best.  Collectively they played in 46 NFL seasons.  They won 379 games.  They played in eight Super Bowls. They won none.