Sean Payton didn't share much technical insight after the Saints' second straight loss that came down the final seconds, but his tone made one thing clear.
The coach was not pleased with the results, or at least how his team arrived at a 23-21 defeat, with a 2-point conversion attempt falling incomplete that would've tied the score in the final minute. That attempt came from the 7-yard line after a false start penalty on tight end Adam Trautman.
“Disappointing loss. I thought we came in with a good plan, we fought hard," Payton said. "That’s what makes it difficult. Just in the end, too many little things, you know. Couple false starts, critical situations. Obviously the turnover, missed PATs, but tip your hat. It was a hard-fought game.”
Payton wouldn't share what the call would've been if it was run from the 2-yard line, but the 5-yard penalty was a "significant" difference. The Saints had initially lined up Taysom Hill at quarterback in a heavy formation, but the Titans called a timeout. The Saints came back in that same formation, but after the false start penalty it was starting quarterback Trevor Siemian that came out for the snap. He tried to hit Mark Ingram on a wheel out of the backfield, but Janoris Jenkins recovered in time to knock the ball away. Brian Johnson's onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, and that was the ballgame.
But Payton remained constant with his refrain that injuries can't be blamed for a 5-4 start, even if they're widespread. The Saints won't have QB Jameis Winston, WR Michael Thomas or K Wil Lutz the rest of the season. Nickel corner CJ Gardner-Johnson and rookie Payton Turner are on injured reserve. Running back Alvin Kamara and LT Terron Armstead didn't play due to injuries.
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The type of mistakes the Saints made in Week 10 would've made it difficult for even a perfectly healthy team to have won a game against the AFC-leading Titans. That said, he indicated the team would start looking at which players are repeatedly making mistakes and go from there.
"It’s the attention to detail, obviously. We look at it as coaches, too. Start with me, but, and pretty soon we start looking at who’s doing it," Payton said. "We start evaluating who’s making plays and who’s not. It just is what it is. It’s our league.”
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MORE FROM PAYTON
ON THE ROUGHING CALL
A phantom roughing the passer call set the Tennessee Titans up for a touchdown in the first half, with replays showing the hit to the head that was flagged never actually occurred. Payton could be seen having heated conversation with the officials, but he wasn't interested in relitigating the call after the game. In fact, he said he got "no explanation" on the field as to why the penalty was called.
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The flag not only set the Titans up for an eventual Ryan Tannehill touchdown dive, but it also negated a Marcus Williams interception that would've swung the momentum of a tied game squarely in the Saints' favor.
“There wasn’t an explanation," Payton said. "What do you want me to say? Do you want my opinion on it? No. No opinion on it. Next question.”
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ON HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS
“There were a couple things that we fixed," Payton said. "I thought the guys up front, we wanted to come in and be balanced and make sure that it wasn’t one-dimensional. We just felt like that was gonna be the right plan, so we were able to do that.”