Kellen Moore, the New Orleans Saints HC, raised concerns after officials overturned Juwan Johnson’s fumble. During the fourth quarter at 8:46, Christian Elliss of the New England Patriots tackled him, executing the peanut punch. This forced the Saints to punt, but according to HC Moore, the tackle was controversial. The ball appeared secured, but the replay showed slight movement, leading to the reversal.

As per a report by Jeff Duncan, “On the officials’ controversial replay overturn of the Juwan Johnson fumble, the Saints’ head coach said, ‘We were told there was some movement on the ball, and that’s all I get.”

The statement is a response to the replay of the tackle. It is understandable why this could be viewed as controversial, because punching when in possession is illegal, but the peanut punch technique is a popular defensive technique.

This is not the same as fumbling the ball. The “Peanut Punch” is an NFL defensive strategy that was made popular by former Chicago Bears cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman. Instead of concentrating only on tackling the player, the defender tries to remove the ball by punching or swiping at it. Focusing on football helps a team become more successful at creating turnovers. And that was exactly what came to fruition for the Patriots.

The controversy intensified because of the time left on the clock. The call moved the field position, and New Orleans was behind by just one touchdown. While defensive players often praise the punch technique, offensive units continue to argue that the definition of “possession” remains inconsistent. Yet, this adds fuel to the officiating debate in the league.

“I was confident when it first happened,” Elliss said. “I felt the ball move completely out of his hands, but then when I saw it on replay, I thought, dang, he did a good job of bringing his arm underneath it, so I didn’t know which way it would go.”

Throughout the game, the tight end had struggled. In the second quarter, a potential drive was cut short by a dropped pass. He concluded with two negative plays at crucial times and four receptions on seven targets for 38 yards. On the other side of the ball, Spencer Rattler pointed out that the team had a good performance. But it was the errors that led the win away from the team. 

3rd Down failures are a bad taste for the Saints

Spencer Rattler, after a loss to the Patriots, 25-19, admitted that the 3rd down could have been a little better. “Could have finished in the red zone a little more. It didn’t feel like we played poorly a few plays away,” Rattler said.

The Saints simply went 1 of 3 in the red zone and converted 7 of 15 third downs. They converted 29 out of 77 third downs (37.7%) in their first six games. Having the 26th-highest third-down conversion rate in the NFL. Out of his 26 pass attempts, Spencer Rattler completed 20 of them without a turnover.

Despite throwing for 227 yards, he failed to record any interceptions or touchdowns. In his twelve NFL starts, Rattler suffered his eleventh defeat. Since Week 2, he has completed 71.3% of his throws and has thrown only one interception this season. His annoyance was a reflection of the multiple drives that nearly broke the game but failed.

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