Kyle Rudolph Breaking Down the Non Call That Sent the Saints Home is Pure Football Porn
Ahhh, football is back. Its a fresh slate for all 32 teams (yes even you Miami Dolphins) which means hope and positivity for each fanbase is at an all time high. It is technically possible for any team, to come out of nowhere like the San Francisco 49er did last year, and be a Super Bowl contender. There of course will be teams who have all the talent in the world but for some reason or another, just can’t get over that hump. As always, I can predict that team will yet again be the New Orleans Saints.
After the Minneapolis Miracle, the missed PI call against the Rams and then the no call on Kyle Rudolph in the 2020 Wild Card game, it just looks like it’s death, taxes, and Saints postseason heartbreak.
Kyle Rudolph recently discussed this no call and why in his view, that was NOT offensive pass interference. To him, it’s all about the nuance between creating separation and maintaining separation.
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Create= flag
Maintain= A OK
On this week’s Bussin With The Boys Episode, Will, a defensive player, decided to probe Kyle on that pivotal play that sent the Saints home packing (again).
“The whole push off thing,” Will began. “The Saints got slighted by their own rule they created the year before.”
Rudolph vehemently disagreed. “The rule was put in for them. For the NFL to have a chance to vindicate, hey we put this rule in for you? You don’t even have to challenge it. It’s a scoring play. We’re going to take the time and look at it, and they still couldn’t overrule it? That’s where I know it was just football.”
Kyle further explained his perspective:
If we had been close together, and I had pushed him away from me? It’s what George Kittle did in the Super Bowl. He was running right next to that guy and then extended the arm. If he would have just held him at arms distance away, you’re going to get away with that every time because your arm is already extended and then you just remove your arm from him and make the catch. If you create the separation instead of keep the separation? They’re going to call it every time. Because that’s what they’re looking for -- the extension. On that play, we were going back and forth, he was grabbing me, I knew the ball was coming. It was cover zero, quarterback draw, the only outlet for us was to throw the fade on the back side. So I knew it was coming right away, and I was like, you can grab me. I’d much rather have a smaller guy create contact, try to grab me, because they’re way faster and way more athletic and if they give me some space, they can close the ground in a split second. So once he started grabbing me, I was like, OK, I’ll let you grab me, I’ll keep you at bay, and then I’ll make a play on the ball. … It wasn’t called, so it was not offensive pass interference. If they had the chance to overturn that call on a game winning touchdown in New Orleans where the rule was created, that was it. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.
Of course, it was a controversial call. Several retired NFL referees weighed in the aftermath of the game.
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The bottom line is that the replay referees could not justify pass interference in large part because no penalty had been called on the field.
Whether you agree or disagree with judgment calls like this has a lot to do with who you root for, of course, but also whether you are offensive or defensive-minded. You can tell Will Compton, the linebacker, sides with the defense while Rudolph, the pass catcher, will always side with the offense. If you’re a Saints fan? You probably think that you can’t catch a break either way. And if this kept happening to the Cowboys I can tell you right now, I would still be incensed to this very moment. I’m sorry, Dez caught it.
But that’s football, and I’d rather be bitching about bad calls than have no games at all.
The full conversation is worth a listen. For the entire Youtube, link is below.