How not to execute a "go for it"

With 7 minutes in the Sunday Night game on September 28, the Saints were down losing to the Cowboys by 14 points, 17-31. Facing 4th and 9 on their own 40 yard line, prospects were bleak as to win the game (Advanced Football Analytics has it at 2%).

As you might guess, this blog would favor going for it, as you might as well roll the dice and try to give yourself the best chance of winning. Losing by 21 vs. losing by 14 doesn't really matter here. Sean Payton and the Saints trot out the punt team, but they execute a fake punt, putting the ball in the hands of punter Thomas Morestead who, after scrambling to find an open receiver, gets tackled for a 2 yard loss.

Now, while I certainly enjoy watching unpredictable plays and aggressive play calling, this was particularly bad. There were several factors making this a bad play.

1) The offense was down by 14 points late in the game, meaning the defense would be wise to look for trickery in a desperate situation.
2) The primary ball carrier isn't used to handling the ball in this way.
3) The players on the field are not regular starters, in order to not tip off the play.

All in all, just a bad idea. Either punting and hoping for a stop or going for it with a regular offense would have been better. Alternatively, a run might have worked too. It surely would have gotten better results than a 2 yard loss. In fact, the punter should have just thrown the ball away in that spot rather than take the 2 yard loss, not that it matters much.

Ultimately, who do you want throwing the ball here?

Drew Brees career passing stats:
4,564 completions, 6,916 attempts (66%)
51,944 yards (7.5 yards per attempt)
368 TD passes

Thomas Morestead career passing stats:
0 completions, 0 attempts, 0 TD passes