He combined an aggressive nature with brilliant clock management. Every coach, including Mike McCarthy, should pay attention to what he did. The Saints ran a draw on third and long to setup Garrett Hartley with a field goal. Instead of letting the clock run to the two-minute warning, Payton took a timeout with 2:11 remaining. During the telecast, Joe Buck questioned the timeout. He would later presume Payton didn’t want Hartley to kick after a long break following the two-minute warning. He was wrong. Payton was saving time in case New Orleans got the ball back.

Hartley made the kick to tie the game with 2:06 remaining. As was accustom throughout the game, the kickoff was a touchback, so no time ran off the clock. San Francisco had to run a play before the two-minute warning. You could argue this was also saving time for the 49ers, but they were going to have at least two minutes and a timeout remaining. Time wasn’t much of a factor in their case.

Regardless, the Saints sacked Kaepernick on first down, and Payton again called a timeout with 2:01 remaining, forcing the 49ers to run another play before the two-minute warning. Two plays later, Kaepernick inexplicably ran out of bounds on a third and long, allowing the Saints to keep their last timeout. The 49ers have to punt the ball with 1:48 remaining.

Because of Payton’s clock management and Kaepernick’s mistake, the Saints got the ball back with a 1:41 remaining and one timeout. They probably saved about 30 seconds. I can’t remember the last time I saw a coach use his timeouts as wisely as Payton did.

Originally Posted by: porky88 

I thought it was a great bit of coaching too. I always loved Payton as a coach.

Still don't know how that wasn't a safety though at the end. Refs seemed to not want to decide the game on a penalty.

Originally Posted by: TheKanataThrilla 

It was a safety, Kaep was not outside the right tackle. Would have been fun to watch Harbaugh explode on that one.

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 

Seemed weird to not throw the flag after the long delay for the flag on the New Orleans possession prior on the intentional grounding of Brees. I don't think the Saints could have run out the clock on the kick after the safety, but one first down I think would have done it.

Originally Posted by: TheKanataThrilla 

He combined an aggressive nature with brilliant clock management. Every coach, including Mike McCarthy, should pay attention to what he did. The Saints ran a draw on third and long to setup Garrett Hartley with a field goal. Instead of letting the clock run to the two-minute warning, Payton took a timeout with 2:11 remaining. During the telecast, Joe Buck questioned the timeout. He would later presume Payton didn’t want Hartley to kick after a long break following the two-minute warning. He was wrong. Payton was saving time in case New Orleans got the ball back.

Hartley made the kick to tie the game with 2:06 remaining. As was accustom throughout the game, the kickoff was a touchback, so no time ran off the clock. San Francisco had to run a play before the two-minute warning. You could argue this was also saving time for the 49ers, but they were going to have at least two minutes and a timeout remaining. Time wasn’t much of a factor in their case.

Regardless, the Saints sacked Kaepernick on first down, and Payton again called a timeout with 2:01 remaining, forcing the 49ers to run another play before the two-minute warning. Two plays later, Kaepernick inexplicably ran out of bounds on a third and long, allowing the Saints to keep their last timeout. The 49ers had to punt the ball with 1:48 remaining.

Because of Payton’s clock management and Kaepernick’s mistake, the Saints got the ball back with a 1:41 remaining and one timeout. They probably saved about 30 seconds. I can’t remember the last time I saw a coach use his timeouts as wisely as Payton did.

Originally Posted by: porky88