No. 43 on the Saints opens up about his infamous non-tackle
It’s not too often when a player has his team’s entire season right in front of him.
Marcus Williams faced such a scenario on Sunday. And in the blink of an eye, it went right past him.
His Saints were clinging to a 24-23 lead Sunday in an NFC playoff game at Minnesota with 10 seconds remaining.
The Vikings were driving, hoping to get close enough to attempt a game-winning field goal.
They got much more than a field goal — they got a history-making play.
.@STEFONDIGGS FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!! #SKOL #NOvsMIN #NFLPlayoffs https://t.co/UAoNJ2NJ97
— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2018
As tremendous as Stefon Diggs’ walk-off catch and 61 yard touchdown was — the first non-overtime playoff game to end on with game-winning touchdown — there’s no question that the Saints could have and should have prevented the disaster from happening.
Williams should have made the tackle.
He could have played the ball, wrapped up Diggs, watched the clock expire, and the Saints would be spending Monday preparing for their trip to the NFC Championship game.
Instead, he whiffed, and New Orleans’ season was over — in the blink of an eye.
“Man, it was just my play to make. The ball was in the air. I didn’t go attack it,” said the first-year player out of Utah. “And he came down and made a great play, and that’s just on me. I just gotta be that guy and go up and get the ball. As a safety back there, you gotta be the eraser. And that was my job.”
New Orleans head coach Sean Payton called an ill-advised time out before the play, giving Minnesota a chance to draw up its plan.
To his credit, Williams took all the blame, and said he was ready.
“I feel like I was a little early [on my launch toward Diggs]. But at that point, I just gotta make the tackle when he comes down,” Williams said. “There’s only 10 seconds left. I knew the situation. You gotta make sure you make the play.”
Sean Payton on Marcus Williams on final play: He's played well for us all year. It was a timing decision obviously. You'd like to have that one back, but he's played well for us all year.
— Doug Mouton (@DMoutonWWL) January 15, 2018
“Look, he jumped and went for the tackle,” Payton said. “He’s played well for us all year. It was a timing decision. Obviously he’d like to have that back, but he’s been a good player for us all year.”
And because Williams didn’t make the tackle, not only is his team eliminated, but Williams will live in infamy, no matter how many Pro Bowls he plays in, or Super Bowls the Saints win.
All the safety can do now is make sure he learns from his critical error.
“Man, just overcoming. You can’t let it beat you down,” Williams said of what he hopes to take from his mistake. “I’m gonna take it upon myself to do all that I can to never let that happen again. And, I mean, if it happens again, then I shouldn’t be playing. But I’m gonna take it upon myself to do all that I can to make sure nothing like this happens again to me.”
In the New Orleans locker room, Williams’ teammates had his back.
“He’s going to have so many opportunities and he’s going to make so many great plays in the future,” Saints linebacker Manti Te’o said. “Everybody makes mistakes, man — it wasn’t just him. He didn’t lose that game. I could have done a whole lot of things better.”
There may be enough blame to spread around, but on the biggest play, there was one man who couldn’t make the play. And his team is home for the offseason.
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