The New Orleans Saints only attempted one fourth down conversion on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. It was an Alvin Kamara run that was stopped short of the line of scrimmage. The other two situations Dennis Allen referenced were punts, and he doesn’t regret any of the three decisions.
What about the other two decisions? Those would have asked Blake Grupe to attempt a career-long field goal. Allen chose to not take the gamble of the Eagles receiving good field position due to a miss.
The first attempt would have been a 58-yard field goal, as the Saints were faced with a 4th-and-8. Allen said he “doesn’t know if that’s the down and distance to we’re looking for to potentially go for it.”
That left punting or kicking the field goal as the only viable options. Allen went with the former because of the flow of the game suggested pinning the Eagles in their own territory was the best bet.
On the next drive, Grupe would have been tasked with a 60-yard field goal try, which Allen said “You certainly aren’t trying to kick.” He just didn’t see the success as consistent enough to risk giving the Eagles great field position. New Orleans considered going for it because they were only 4 yards from the first down. Ultimately, they chose to punt that one as well.
Allen kept it simple on the decision to go for it on 4th-and-1. He called it a “no brainer.”
Allen sees the two punts as plays that worked out for the team and the attempt as a play he’d do every time. It doesn’t seem like he’d change how he handled the situation, but you have to wonder whether Grupe banging his first field goal in off the uprights played a part in how he approached this phase of the game on Sunday.
