New Orleans Saints: Jimmy Graham Is Just Playing to Win the Game

The New Orleans Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers, 30-27, last Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., and Jimmy Graham played a big role in the result.

He had eight receptions for 129 yards for another great performance in the young season.

In the past couple of days, ESPN talk shows have been talking about him, but the big catches he made for the Saints or even the fact that he is ranked fourth in receiving yards is not the topic of conversation.

In the waning moments of the first half, Brees drove the Saints into field goal range; the only problem was they did not have any timeouts left. The away team scrambled to get the kicking unit on the field and in the shuffle, Jimmy Graham ended up tumbling to the ground.

After the dust settled and Graham pulled himself off the turf, the refs had a conference. They ended up calling no penalty on the play, because for some reason, Ron Rivera, the Panthers head coach, called a timeout before the penalty occurred.  

Calling a timeout so the team you are playing can kick a field goal is an interesting coaching decision, but someone else can write about the logic in that move.

Once halftime was officially called, the play-by-play guys started showing the Jimmy Graham flop and it was not pretty for the former Miami standout.

Chris Gamble, a 6’1”, 200-pound cornerback, apparently headbutts Graham, who has five inches and 60 pounds on the Panther cover man. On further review, it became painfully obvious that Graham took a flop that even Manu Ginobili would be proud of. After all, Graham did play college basketball at the University of Miami.

Some of the analysts on the talk shows said that the flop was awful and that Graham showed a lack of professionalism.

Why should he be ashamed of the play?

He was trying to win the game, and when the moment to help his team presented itself, he took it. Winning football games in the NFL is not an easy task, and those three points that the Saints got at the end of the half ended up being very important. Instead of having a 4-1 record on Monday morning, the Saints could have been 3-2 and tied with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the NFC South lead.

The Saints' victory was more about clutch plays in the fourth quarter by Brees and Co., but the field goal at the end of the half did not hurt.

Players in the NBA always flop around.

If someone is watching an NBA game, it will not take long to see a 6’11” center falling to the court after a 5’10” point guard slashes down the lane. Frankly, it is a little surprising that there have not been more cases of flopping in the NFL. It might be a tough man's sport, but Herm Edwards said it best.

“You play to win the game.”