Time Out for Dec. 30, 2011

Payton makes right call for finale

If you’re a New Orleans Saints fan, you have to applaud the decision Sean Payton made Wednesday.

His players certainly did.

Faced with a dilemma regarding his team’s seeding for the upcoming playoffs, Payton made the right call to not mess with a seven-game winning streak and go “full-speed ahead” in Sunday’s regular-season finale with the Carolina Panthers in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

That means, barring a last-second change of heart, his regulars will play — and play to win — against the Panthers on New Year’s Day.

Actually, Payton didn’t have a choice. Not with the No. 2 seed still hanging out there even though the San Francisco 49ers need only to beat the lowly St. Louis Rams to wrap it up and the first-round bye that goes with it.

Can you imagine the backlash he would get if the Saints’ frontline players, even though they’re risking injury, would rest against the Panthers and then find out the Rams had stunned the 49ers — like when they handed the Saints their last loss on Oct. 30.

Payton likely will have someone watching the out-of-town scoreboard, but he said it won’t be him after he did a little of that in the finale last season when the Saints had an outside shot at claiming the No. 1 seed.

This time, it’ll be all about the Saints instead of a far-away game they have absolutely no control over.

In the immortal words of former NFL coach and current ESPN analyst Herm Edwards, “You play to win the game!”

Edwards’ words and Payton’s decision were endorsed by his players, who were told Wednesday afternoon that it’ll be business as usual.

“When you play football, you want to play,” said strongside linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar. “You don’t want to miss a Sunday. You want to be out there having fun.”

Make no mistake, the Saints are having fun. Since their inexplicable loss to the then-winless Rams, five of their seven wins have been by double digits.

“I like it … I like trying to win games,” strong safety Roman Harper said. “You don’t want to just forfeit the game, you want to play and see what happens. It’s hard to cut the switch off.”

While there’s a chance of injury, that’s exactly what Payton was thinking.

It’s a little different, he said, than when he sat most of his starters in the 2009 season finale. Payton said that team, which lost two games in a row after starting 13-0, needed some rest before the playoffs.

“The difference this year is I’d hate to make that decision (sit players),” he said. “Our league is one in that each week everyone that lines up to play can win. A perfect example is the team we’re talking about (St. Louis) is a team that beat us.

“I’d hate to think that scenario exists where all of a sudden you back off and find that you had an opportunity to have a bye,” Payton said, noting that the seed was but one factor in his decision. “Just as importantly, I think we’re improving each week, and I don’t want a week of that to stop.”