I read it all the time after Bucs-Saints games: penalties penalties penalties. But, it’s almost always about penalties the Bucs were called for. Instead of calling out how the Saints often get away with them, the media will take shots at the Bucs and ignore how bad officiating impacts the games. Not only do the Saints NOT get called as often as they should, the Bucs themselves often get called for things THEY DID NOT DO.
The New Orleans Saints should be the most penalized team in the NFL. They commit the most uncalled penalties on both defense and offense, they are without doubt the dirtiest defense in the league as well.
It is not exaggeration or hyperbole to say that the Saints get away with defensive holding, pass interference and other defensive penalties a LOT.
It’s on film in every game.
It is not exaggeration or hyperbole to say that the Saints get away with offensive holding and fouls like hands to the face.
It’s on film in every game.
These uncalled penalties have literally cost the Bucs games against them.
Defense
On defense the Saints are coached to grab and mug opposing receivers as long as they can get away with it. And they DO get away with it, a LOT. Last season they committed pass interference or defensive holding multiple times in both games. They were only called for it on a completed touchdown pass to Mike Evans, and very late in the second game when it didn’t matter anymore. The non-calls in the first game led directly to Tom Brady interceptions. It could also be argued that Lattimore grabbed Mike Evans on a long pass that was incomplete, due to just BARELY being overthrown.
It was enough to slow him down and keep him from catching the ball.
Not only that, but they are also coached to target and injure players. That hit that injured Chris Godwin should have been penalized as a hit on a defenseless receiver. The way the Saints defender went as low as possible to target him was INTENTIONAL. They were trying to injure Bucs players throughout the entire game. In retaliation for Jameis Winston’s injury in the first game.
The New Orleans Saints are of course no stranger to having a dirty defense.
Their defensive coordinator for the last several years, and now head coach, was one of the masterminds behind the disgusting “Bountygate” scheme.
Multiple times the Saints have tried to injure Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Mike Evans, Leonard Fournette, and they DID injure Chris Godwin.
They love to hit our players late, hit them in the head, and hit them in the knees with intent to injure.
Tom Brady drew ZERO roughing the passer penalties during the regular season last year.
The Saints should have been called for it at least five times in the two games.
In the first game last season the Saints should have been called for at least ten penalties.
Offense
The standard excuse for penalties like offense holding is “Oh you could call holding on every play.” Maybe, but when it’s blatant it should be called without question. The Saints are not called for holding nearly as often as they should be. This isn’t JUST a Saints issue, as it seem like EVERY team the Bucs played would hold egregiously on a regular basis the last couple season. But it just adds on to all the other penalties they don’t get called for.
Hands to the face, for example.
Last season in the first game, Will Gholston had his helmet RIPPED OFF by a Saints offensive lineman.
NO PENALTY.
Yet.
Somehow on the EXACT SAME PLAY Will Gholston was called for “roughing the passer”, while not wearing the helmet that had been ripped off. By the way, Will Gholston did not commit roughing the passer on that play. That bullshit call negated an interception by Antoine Winfield Jr. The officials not only missed a blatant penalty on the New Orleans Saints, they gave them a free first down on a phantom roughing call.
They scored a touchdown on that drive.
A drive that should have been ended by an interception but wasn’t due to a uncalled penalty AND a phantom call on the Bucs.
I’ve seen the Saints false start with no call (Packers get away with that a lot too.)
I’ve seen them snap the ball a full two seconds after the play clock hit zero MULTIPLE TIMES A GAME.
The amount of times a penalty that wasn’t even close to being a “50/50” wasn’t called on them is embarrassing for the NFL.
In conclusion: FUCK THE SAINTS
The officiating in the first game last season was bad at the start, but it seemed to get worse after the Jameis Winston injury. The worst calls and non-calls in the game all happened after that injury, that embarrassingly soft roughing the passer call on Gholston being one of them. It was BLATANTLY obvious that the officiating crew in that game, known for overprotecting QBs, was over-correcting to help the Saints. It’s funny that that crew was known for “protecting” QBs, because the Saints committed multiple uncalled roughing the passer penalties after Jameis left the game.
That crew didn’t seem to know that pass interference, illegal contact, hands to the face, offensive holding, false start, delay of game, unnecessary roughness and defensive holding were penalties either.
It was one of the worst officiated NFL games I had ever seen, until the playoff game against the Rams that is.
And it’s not just against the Bucs that the Saints get away with these penalties and make dirty hits on players. Falcons and Panthers fans could both say the same things about them. That’s just within the NFC South.
The Saints being dirty and getting favorable treatment is just a couple of the many reasons I hate them.
Their only Super Bowl will forever be tainted by Bountygate.
A scheme that has clearly not stopped.
FUCK THE SAINTS.
