The moment Shedeur Sanders opted to not give an answer about what he saw from New Orleans Saints defense, especially in the way he did it, we all knew the Saints would use it as bulletin board material. Carl Granderson just confirmed this to be true. They heard it, and they didn't like it.
Browns fans will say that Sanders meant nothing bad about the Saints defense by the way he answered the question and it was more about the reporter asking the question. Welcome to the NFL. Saints fans and players aren’t going to have or care about that context.
The way Sanders answered the question left enough room for interpretation that this isn’t a reach. Matter of fact, it’s what the Saints defense is supposed to do. They are supposed to hear Sanders say “yeah I seen a lot... when I smile just know that means something,” in reference to the Saints defense and take that personal, because it was a flat out strange response to what seemed to be a layup question.
Saints shouldn't need the extra motivation but they could sure use it
It doesn't sound like Granderson was just talking about Sanders either, though he did call him out specifically. He told the media, "we're going to come in with a chip on our shoulder for sure. They've been chirping a little bit. We see what the quarterback said."
At this point, Sanders' intentions are irrelevant, and the only thing that matters is the impact. If this gave the Saints defense a chip on their shoulder, then it's a good thing he said it, for the Saints at least.
New Orleans needs a chip on their shoulder or something to create motivation. The score doesn't reflect it, but their performance against the Steelers was rough. They did a good job keeping touchdowns off the board, but they let Pittsburgh drive down the field too often.
Pittsburgh had 7 drives in the game and scored on four of them and was inside the 15-yard line on the final drive before taking a knee to run out the clock. Let's put that into the scoring drive category, especially since the Steelers made a field goal on that drive before a penalty gave them their final first down.
That makes for five scores on seven drives. The Saints forcing the majority of those scores to be field goals is a silver lining, but it's not a reality they want to keep living in. It's definitely not one to be satisfied with.
Teams are going to get motivation wherever they can find it. The Saints could use it, and Sanders made it easy to find. Now, it's on Granderson and the Saints defense to show it's not just words.
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