At least this time they won.
But the Saints were still concerned to say the least about the latest officiating mistake in their building, after last night’s clock-keeping screwup in their win over the Texans.
Officials cost the Saints 15 seconds at the end of the first half, time which could have been quite valuable in a close game. Kicker Will Lutz missed a 56-yard field goal after the mishap, when they ostensibly could have gotten closer. And after they were jammed out of a Super Bowl trip last year by a clear and obvious error by officials, the Saints were rightly disturbed.
“I still don’t know what the deal was,” quarterback Drew Brees said, via Katherine Terrell of TheAthletic.com. “Someone came up to me in the locker room and acknowledged that a mistake was made, that 10 seconds should not have run off but they should’ve had 31 seconds left. Instead, we only had 16. So, listen, that can’t happen. I mean, that’s a game-changer, right? We had to kick a 58-yard field goal or whatever it was. . . . If we had 15 more seconds, are you kidding me? We’re going to get closer. That’s a game-changer. That can’t happen.”
And yet it did.
The result of last night’s game allowed them to process it with humor, anyway.
“It wouldn’t be the first time they messed up a call,” linebacker Demario Davis said. “It’s Week One for everybody.”
The NFL is probably fortunate that the Saints didn’t need the points, or Sean Payton would probably be on the phone with some high-ranking officials in New York, using loud and angry words. If he hasn’t been already.