No, it wasn't the "correct call".... That's exactly why the Saints sat at home during the Super Bowl...it wasn't the right call at all. Regardless of his pitch & catch success rate, running the clock down with the original play call would have been the SMART thing to do. It would have given the Saints the lead and the Rams no time left to come back. It was a terrible audible by what has historically been a very smart QB. But he got arrogant. Instead of just playing it safe, and taking the FG and leaving the Rams with no time and no timeouts, he got cute, and wanted to spike the football (metaphorically speaking). He got burned. If Saints fans were smart, they should be angry at Brees. He literally caused his team to miss the Super Bowl this year.
The bolded parts are where you went wrong. We needed the first down to leave them with no time left. Even if we had gotten the first down they would have gotten the ball back with a small amount of time. There was 1:58 left and the rams had two timeouts. If you run it three times they still get the ball back with over 1 minute left while a first down would allow you to run the clock and give the Rams no timeouts. It was the smart thing to do, unfortunately it didn't work out. You run the ball three times there and the results could have very well been the same. Saints fans can be mad at Brees for throwing the pic in overtime if they want, but I doubt you will find many takers. If you were smart you would know that .
You know, at least the Saints had the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl (NFC Championship game and all), and yes maybe they could have done things a little differently and won the game but alas, they fell short of the ultimate prize unlike another team from our sister state who shall remain nameless.
I thought you could put all 6 NFC playoff teams into a bucket, reach in and draw one out to go to the Super Bowl, and be okay with it. From the Seasickhawks, and the struggling Eagles to the Saints (#1 seed), there was very little difference. Ultimately what separated the Saints & Rams from the rest was homefield advantage. The Saints would have lost to the Eagles had they played in Philly. The Cowboys would have beaten the Rams had that game been played in Dallas. Why did the Saints lose to the Rams? Saints hurt themselves by not making some plays they usually do, and the zebras played a huge role too. Also, there's always that random aspect of sports...the Rams' kicker nailed a 48 and 57 yarder in a pressure situation, and missed a 43 yarder in the SB. Go figure.