Payton Addresses Penalties In Saints Preseason Win

The Saints won their second preseason game Friday night against the Tennessee Titans. While it might show as a "W" in the  win loss column the victory was anything by satisfying for Saints coach Sean Payton.

To say the coach was not pleased with the team's performance is a bit of an understatement. While the team was able to move the ball and the defense came up big, the huge amount of penalties really caught the coach' attention.

"That was a painful to watch, I can't ever recall a game with that many penalties,Most of the ones I saw, were good calls. So this is not about a crew who called a lot of penalties, this obviously something I have to do a better job with."

Payton's comments were reported by the Louisiana Radio Network. In all, the Saints recorded 22 penalties for the game. That many flags will get you beat during the NFL's tough regular season.

There were some bright spots in the Saints 31-24 victory on Friday. Jimmy Graham showed that he has no trouble finding the end zone. He will probably have a tougher time fighting his way out of Sean Payton's doghouse after getting penalized twice for dunking the ball over the goalpost after each score. Graham's signature move is now a 15 yard penalty thanks to rule changes this year.

The Saints defense looked like very sharp creating 5 turnovers during the game. The Saints back up quarterbacks looked capable in their time on the field. Luke McCown and Ryan Griffin both threw for two scores while Saints starter Drew Brees continued to  watch from the sidelines. Brees is dealing with a strained oblique muscle but is expected to get some action in the Saints next preseason game which is Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts.