The New Orleans Saints rallied back from a 21 point deficit to take the Detroit Lions to overtime. Tyler Shough battled back from a horrendous first 35 minutes, and almost led the Saints to an upset victory. Kellen Moore went for the juggular after scoring a touchdown in overtime, but the Lions had it read the whole way.
Despite failing to convert the two point conversion, Moore isn't second guessing the decision, and he shouldn't. He explained "there's 1:34 left. That's a really talented offense. You have a chance to go win the football game."
Time likely played a factor, but the approach would have been different regardless of the time left on the clock. "I really viewed it as we're going for two to win the game if we have a chance." Closing the game on your terms is the biggest perk of getting the ball second in overtime.
Going for 2 was the only decision for Kellen Moore to make, but it was a bad call
If there is really any criticism about Moore choosing to go for a two point conversion instead of kicking an extra point, he was in a situation where the only acceptable choice was converting the two pointer. Except, that's an outcome, not a decision. It's not infrequent for many to decide how they feel about a decision based on the outcome, but that doesn't make the decision itself wrong.
If you look at it in the framework of decision instead of outcome, there's no doubt it was only one decision to be made. To keep it simple, it was either go for two or settle for at best a tie. The Lions would have had a minute and a half left on the clock, so the Saints getting the ball back were slim, regardless of what the Lions did.
Settling for a tie is universally looked at weak move, and Moore would have undoubtedly received more criticism for choosing the extra point. The team had the momentum with the second half success of the offense, even if the decision wasn't obvious. The fact that team wasn't expected to win gave a bit of a nothing to lose feeling.
Moore played to win the game, and that's a trait that's near impossible to criticize in good faith. It just didn't work.
Now, one thing that could be questioned is the play call Moore made on the two point conversion. The play call felt obvious and poorly set up. We've seen countless times in which the offense tries to get a defender caught up in the trash of routes and fellow defenders while the receiver rolls out to the flat
It's a concept that has worked in the past, but it's also something defenses are more than prepared for. Moore also just didn't set this particular look up well. DJ Reed was on the outside of the formation, and despite Olave going into motion, Reed never went far enough inside to get caught up in the wash.
Reed was step for step with Olave and took away the look immediately. The defense also was all over Devaughn Vele. They played it absolutely perfectly and left Shough with no options.
A different set up for this look could have worked out differently. The Lions were never fooled, and the Saints didn't do enough to force Reed to commit inside. Great decision, but poor call.
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