Darren Rizzi hasn't been an NFL head coach for very long, but he's seen the ending of enough close games to understand how it works.
The right decisions are only viewed as the right decisions when they're successful. When they fail? The second guessing starts. But he won't allow that to paint his views on the decision to go for 2 at the end of a close loss to the Commanders, a decision to go for the win that ultimately resulted in an incompletion and a loss.
"I don’t regret it for one second, making the decision, I think it was the right decision at that time and obviously it didn’t work out," Rizzi told Bobby Hebert and Mike Hoss this week on WWL. "You guys all know how this works. If we complete the pass and we get the 2-point conversion it was the greatest call in the history of the world and if we didn’t, it’s easy to second guess, and I just felt like it was the right call for the moment."
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The decision came after the Saints rallied from a 17-0 second-half deficit and scored a touchdown on a perfectly executed 2-minute drill by rookie QB Spencer Rattler, who took over for Jake Haener to start the third quarter. The Saints trailed by a touchdown when Rattler found Foster Moreau for a short touchdown as time expired. That meant the Saints had the option to kick a PAT and head to overtime. They did not.
Instead it was the second time in three weeks that the Saints found themselves in a scenario that was going to end with a 2-point try. The Saints were unable to finish off a drive against the Rams, but Rizzi made it clear after the game that they'd have gone for 2 and the win if they had. There's no need to wonder this time, with the call being a Rattler sprintout to the right where he targeted Juwan Johnson, who had space to make a play but saw the ball go off his hands. Game over.
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The decision didn't work, but the decision is still one Rizzi stands behind for a few clear and obvious reasons that had a lot to do with the Commanders superstar quarterback who led
"I didn’t want Jayden Daniels to get the ball back, we saw him, although we did a phenomenal job defensively for the game, I would agree with that, we saw him also make some plays with his feet, throwing the ball, they missed on some deep shots in the second half that were damn close to being explosives," Rizzi said. "I really didn’t want to bring him back on the field and I would tell you that I think the decision, I don’t regret it, looking back on it and I would tell you if were in that situation in Green Bay, we’ll see how the game plays out."
The Saints (5-9) ship up to a frigid Green Bay this week for a Monday Night Football showdown with the Packers (10-4). Catch all the action on WWL.
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More from Rizzi
If Kamara is healthy for that 2-point attempt, does the call change?
“Listen, I think – I’m sure it does. I mean, you know, at that point Alvin was out for the game, you know, there’s a number of ways we could’ve went, obviously, with the call, you know, we thought we had the right play called at the time, you know, there was some talk about also running the ball there with Kendre, he had run the ball well in the 2-minute, but if Alvin’s out there, listen, Alvin changes everything. It changes the way teams play against you, the way teams defend you, the defenses and all that, so naturally, no doubt about that.”
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On Saints not forcing turnovers lately
“We’ll take all the cold fronts we can get right now, so hopefully mother nature is nice to us here in this coming week. Hey, listen, at this time in Green Bay if the temperature has two digits, we’ll take it. We’ve been up there before, people that don’t know, I’ve actually been up there a couple times at the end of the year, you know, throughout my career in the NFL, so listen, it’s gonna be a phenomenal atmosphere and you’ve got to remember we’ve got a lot of guys on our roster that have played a lot of football in cold weather, you know, and whether it be college or high school or whatever, so it’s not like a lot of these guys are doing it for the first time, so we got a chance to go up to New York, New Jersey, I should say, a couple weeks ago and play, although it was a balmy 40-something degrees that day, but listen, we’re gonna practice outside this week, on the grass, that’s one of our challenges. You know, you look at some of the teams, the Dolphins, the 49ers that have played up there the last couple of times and there’s guys slipping and sliding all over the place. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got to the right footwear on. We’re gonna get up there and do a walkthrough up there on Sunday somewhere and try to get adjusted, but it is what it is, the sidelines are nice and warm and the football is the football and blocking and tackling is blocking and tackling, so it is what it is, we’re excited, Monday Night Football, it’s Lambeau Field, if you can’t get excited about that, something is wrong with you.”
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Expectations for Green Bay
“We’ll take all the cold fronts we can get right now, so hopefully mother nature is nice to us here in this coming week. Hey, listen, at this time in Green Bay if the temperature has two digits, we’ll take it. We’ve been up there before, people that don’t know, I’ve actually been up there a couple times at the end of the year, you know, throughout my career in the NFL, so listen, it’s gonna be a phenomenal atmosphere and you’ve got to remember we’ve got a lot of guys on our roster that have played a lot of football in cold weather, you know, and whether it be college or high school or whatever, so it’s not like a lot of these guys are doing it for the first time, so we got a chance to go up to New York, New Jersey, I should say, a couple weeks ago and play, although it was a balmy 40-something degrees that day, but listen, we’re gonna practice outside this week, on the grass, that’s one of our challenges. You know, you look at some of the teams, the Dolphins, the 49ers that have played up there the last couple of times and there’s guys slipping and sliding all over the place. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got to the right footwear on. We’re gonna get up there and do a walkthrough up there on Sunday somewhere and try to get adjusted, but it is what it is, the sidelines are nice and warm and the football is the football and blocking and tackling is blocking and tackling, so it is what it is, we’re excited, Monday Night Football, it’s Lambeau Field, if you can’t get excited about that, something is wrong with you.”