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The NFL wasn’t happy with how the Saints handled the post-NFC Championship Game controversy. The Saints can’t be happy with the NFL’s scheduling of the first quarter of their season.Strength of schedule never is determined until the end of the season. What happened last year doesn’t matter , so a strength of schedule based on last season is meaningless.But one look at the Saints’ schedule tells you they face a tough test — if not a Murderers’ Row — to start.They open the season at home against the Texans, but the game is on Monday night. So that leads to a short Week Two, which is a West Coast trip to the Rams for a rematch of the NFC title game.The Saints then stay on the West Coast for a game at the Seahawks before returning home to face Dallas in a Sunday night game in Week Four.All of the Saints’ first four opponents made the playoffs last season. With the Patriots playing in the Super Bowl, owner Robert Kraft wasn’t about to wade into the middle of the officiating controversy that surrounded the NFC Championship Game.鈥淲e have one game left, so I love the refs ,鈥?Kraft joked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, via the .Kraft was quizzed about officials’ role in the Rams’ victory over the Saints.The NFL admitted to Saints coach Sean Payton that officials erred when they failed to throw a flag on Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman, who hit Saints receiver Tommylee Lewis before the ball arrived. The missed call, which allowed the Rams plenty of time to tie the game and send it to overtime, has led to calls for expanded replay.Competition Committee members’ recent comments , though, make it sound as if their discussions on the subject won’t lead to action. Kraft tiptoed the line.鈥淲e have human error sometimes, but we have to move on,” Kraft said. “It鈥檚 unfortunate. We have to be diligent about trying to get it corrected.鈥滽raft gives officials high marks overall, though they had a rough day at the office on the second-biggest Sunday of the season.鈥淭hey have a tough job ,” Kraft said.
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