Sean Payton Says Saints Replay Monitors in Coaching Booth vs. Vikings Were Out

New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton lost two bad challenges in the second half of his team's defeat to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, but he says it wasn't necessarily his fault.

"Our monitor was down," he explained Monday, per Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com. "Our booth was the only booth that didn't have a feed to it. So, you just got to go with your gut, and fortunately, it wasn't an issue with the timeouts."

If the Saints' replay monitor was the only one malfunctioning at U.S. Bank Stadium, it may have been a significant disadvantage in the eventual 29-24 loss.

Payton challenged two plays in the fourth quarter on the same Minnesota drive. The first was a 27-yard pass to Jarius Wright, which was challenged as an incompletion but upheld.

Three plays later, the coach thought Vikings quarterback Case Keenum was down before releasing an incomplete pass on third down. A successful challenge would have pushed the team a few yards back for the ensuing field-goal attempt, but the play was upheld and Kai Forbath nailed his 49-yard attempt.

Tony Dungy of NBC Sports questioned the decisions to challenge:

The Saints not only lost two timeouts with the challenges but also didn't have the ability to challenge any more plays.

New Orleans was fortunate to not need either for the remainder of the game, although the Vikings eventually won on a 61-yard touchdown to Stefon Diggs as time expired.