Even when he’s trying to relax with some pre-training camp golf in Lake Tahoe, Sean Payton can’t get away from what happened in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
The Saints coach was doing an interview with the NFL Network, when they brought in network intern Meghan Payton (his daughter), who asked about the playoff loss to the Vikings.
Specifically, she asked if there was a play he wished he had over, other than the Minnesota Miracle, Stefon Diggs’ game-winning touchdown pass.
“For someone who is really studying that game, there was a third-and-1 before we kicked that field goal [to go up 24-23],” he replied, via the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “We weren’t able to convert that third-and-1. We kicked a field goal with 20-some seconds left in the game. Had we been able to just get the one yard, we would have easily been able to run the clock down to 3 seconds and hopefully kick the field goal and not give the Vikings another possession.
“So I would say that would be a play I beat myself up over, or we think about a lot and that mattered in that game a lot.”
He also joked that he appreciated his daughter bringing that back up. And since it’s Monday morning and we’re in a good mood, we won’t even rail on the nepotism angle at the league’s own network, because it’s not like he hired her as an assistant coach on his staff or anything.