The New Orleans Saints and their fans are quite familiar with controversy. While we could go years into the past to detail the franchise's relationship with officials, we'll just focus on their two games this year versus the Baltimore Ravens and Detroit Lions. Both games have had controversial calls, but this time the refs helped the Saints on Tyler Shough's game winning touchdown.
Chase Young's strip sack against Jared Goff turned Jonas Sanker touchdown had the potential to be one of the biggest plays of Week 1. That's exactly what it became for all the wrong reasons. Now, the league has put throwing motion in the same category as deciding if it's a catch. We don't know.
This time, the refs were on the Saints side, and it may have given them a win. Shough didn't seem to cross the plane of the goal line on 4th and goal to score a touchdown with under 2 minutes remaining, though that is what was called on the field. The fact that it was in a pile and the call on the field was touchdown is likely what saved the Saints.
Controversy was inevitable and doesn't spoil the Saints' victory
When you get away with one, it's okay to just say that. The Saints got away with what appeared to be Shough getting stopped short. The referees didn't have indisputable evidence, but it did look pretty clear on review.
Had the call on the field been changed, however, that just would have invited more controversy. Roquan Smith jumped over the line of scrimmage and got away with an obvious and egregious facemask on Shough that kept him from getting into the end zone. That wouldn't be reviewable, so the Saints would have just been out of luck.
On top of that, the Saints would have been able to run out the clock if that facemask was called. They would have been at the one yard line, and the Ravens had no timeouts. It would have made for a much less stressful ending to the game.
Despite that controversy, that doesn't take away from what the Saints accomplished. Most people didn't expect the Saints to win this game regardless of the circumstances. Moral victories may not be a thing in the locker room, but they showed a lot with how they were able to stay in the game.
The defense was able to keep the Ravens off the board for the most part. The offense once again showed resilience, but they did it in a winning effort. That call didn't make the game any less performance or take anything away from what the Saints did on any side of the ball.
Even special teams lived up to their name. Daniel Carlson made all of his kicks, and Barion Brown's kick return put the Saints in phenomenal field position for an important drive.
The Saints are a talented team, and that's clear in the first two weeks. They have the make up of a growing team, and they're delivering on the promise. It's still early, but it feels like the Saints are a team that can be the playoff contenders we thought they'd be.
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