New Orleans’ Rashid Shaheed has proven himself to be a big-play player, but today in Atlanta he made a big mistake.
The Saints’ defense forced the Falcons to punt on the opening possession, but Shaheed inexplicably backtracked to his own 3-yard line to field that punt, muffed it, and watched helplessly as it rolled into the end zone. Atlanta’s KhaDarel Hodge recovered for a toudhdown.
The score gave the Falcons a 7-0 lead and surely gave Saints coach Dennis Allen second thoughts about whether Shaheed is the player he wants returning punts.
Shaheed certainly has the ability to do it well, but if you can’t trust your punt returner not to make a mistake like that, you need a new punt returner.