posted by Douglass C. Perry
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After watching the Monday Night Football game last night featuring the Saints versus the Minnesota Vikings, I realized again how many layers, mistakes, freak accidents, and star plays comprise the complicated, deep game of football.
Despite the Saints' four turnovers (the last of which shouldn't be counted because it was a Hail Mary throw in the last seconds of the game), Reggie Bush's raw running talent (two punt returns for touchdowns) and Brees' pure desire to win, kept their team in the game. Amazingly, those weren't the most significant plays of the game because they weren't enough to win.
Instead, the most significant play in the game could very well be the Vikings' field goal block that led to a touchdown in the first quarter, or Gramatica's botched field goal with two minutes left. If the Saints had won, Bush's TD runs could also have been the turning points -- they certainly changed the game's momentum for a period of time.
In my opinion, Gramatica's missed field goal, as ugly as it was, was the most signficant play in the game, as it would have given the Saints a three-point lead with two minutes left and continued momentum to finish off the game.
Football doesn't always lead itself to a single play that makes the difference, but last night I felt it did. What do you think? Were there other significant plays that changed the game altogether?
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SurferRosa Interesting premise, Doug.
My thinking is that the game changer was the Saints third and eight down with about two minutes left in the game. If the Saints had converted that down they would have ran down enough minutes and gained enough yards for that Crazy Greek kicker to make a field goal. Or, they could have scored a touchdown.
But on second thought, that blocked punt in the early minutes was a stunning perception changer... Hm....
I'll go with my first choice: the third-and-eight miscue between Brees and his receiver. Had that been caught, the game would have been over.
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abcdefgene Sorry, the Saints suck. If they can't beat the Vikings, forget it. The game changing play was when Adrian Peterson stepped onto the field. Full stop. -
nbranson86 what about the flag, wait no thats right there was no flag when reggie bush fubbled the ball during the face mask. yea they say the face mask didn't cause the fumble, but if his facemask wasn't grabbed reggie might have turned the corner and ran up. everything changes when u have someone ripping down on ur facemask!!! if the siants would have keep posession of the ball the game would have had a different outcome and thats for sure!!!
