New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton thinks the team is ready to move forward. The Saints, of course, are coming off one of the most devastating losses in recent sports history. In the closing minutes of the NFC Championship Game, the Saints were on the wrong end of a blown call that should've more or less guaranteed them victory.
Instead, as a result of the uncalled pass interference, the Saints ended up losing to the Los Angeles Rams in overtime. Saints fans were understandably outraged, and the uproar surrounding the incident lasted for a very long time. The non-call even led to the NFL changing its ruled on replay review.
At the urging of Payton and others in the Saints organization, the league announced that pass interference would become reviewable for the 2019 season. It's a topic that has dominated offseason media coverage, but Payton thinks the team is set to move on and get back to focusing on the task at hand.
Speaking to ProFootballTalk recently, Payton acknowledged the loss “was a lot more difficult” than a typical one, but emphasized that they have “a young, resilient locker room” in New Orleans. Payton also said, “the sense of being around our team” is that the issue won't be a distraction this season.
That's good to hear, and it'll be interesting to see how the Saints handle the controversy. The issue could either be deflating and linger into the season, or the Saints could use it as motivation to come back stronger than ever before. Obviously, the Saints are hoping for the latter, and Payton seems confident that'll be the case.
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