Tag: Play of the Day

Cameron Jordan’s end zone pick-six is the Saints Play of the Day

The Saints’ 2024 regular season is finally here, which means our countdown is almost over. Cameron Jordan’s 0-yard pick-six is the Play of the Day:

The New Orleans Saints’ 2024 regular season is finally here, which means our countdown is over. Well, almost. There haven’t been many 0-yard scoring plays in team history so this touchdown by Cameron Jordan truly stands out.

Jordan got a hand up to tip the pass from Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2017, but he took things a step further by tracking the ball and snatching it away in the end zone. It was the third defensive touchdown of the day for New Orleans, which you can watch here. And this one sealed their 52-38 win.

It was a special play made by a special player. Expect this moment to be featured on Jordan’s highlight reel once his eligibility for the Pro Football Hall of Fame enters discussion, whenever that may be. Jordan has come through for the Saints when they’ve needed him to many times over the years. This is just another example of his consistency and unique style of play.

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Drew Brees’ game-winning touchdown is the Saints Play of the Day

There’s one day to go until the Saints’ season opener, which means Drew Brees’ game-winning 1-yard touchdown is the Play of the Day:

How’s this for your New Orleans Saints Play of the Day? There’s just one day left until the Saints kick off their 2024 regular season, which means Drew Brees’ game-winning 1-yard touchdown run against the Atlanta Falcons in 2018 is today’s deserving highlight.

It was a tough game with the dirty birds, going all the way to overtime. The Saints won the coin toss and Brees took over at the New Orleans 20-yard line. What happened next was classic. Brees conducted a surgical 15-play, 80-yard drive (completing 9 of his 11 passes) going all the way down to Atlanta’s goal line before he popped over the offensive line and thrust the ball into the end zone for a game-winning score. The “Brees leap” became one of No. 9’s signature plays on fourth-and-short and goal-line situations like this one, and he came through again for the game-winning score in overtime against the Saints’ oldest rivals. See it for yourself.

But most Saints fans who caught this game live wouldn’t point to the overtime touchdown as Brees’ most iconic play of the day. That honor belongs to his 7-yard scramble, when Brees put a pair of Falcons defenders in the spin cycle so he could dive into the end zone and help force the game into overtime. You can find that one here.

Either way, both plays went down in the scorebook as touchdown runs, and this was just the second time in Brees’ illustrious career he was credited with  multiple scores on the ground. The last time he achieved that? 2009’s memorable comeback win over the Miami Dolphins, where Brees helped power the team to a 46-34 win after falling into a 24-3 deficit. The Saints never faced that kind of challenge in this 2018 matchup in Atlanta, but that game still featured seven lead changes before Brees put it away in overtime.

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A.T. Perry’s big touchdown on A.J. Terrell is the Saints Play of the Day

The Falcons just paid A.J. Terrell $81 million. A.T. Perry’s touchdown against him is our pick for the Saints Play of Day 17:

Congratulations are in order for A.J. Terrell. The Atlanta Falcons are paying their star cornerback $81 million on a new four-year deal, which includes more than $65 million in guarantees, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

And we’re choosing to celebrate this occasion by looking back at A.T. Perry’s 18-yard touchdown catch against Terrell in the 2023 regular season finale. This game-tying score is our pick for the New Orleans Saints Play of the Day, with the same number of days to go to the 2024 season kickoff as the number Perry wears on his jersey (17).

The Falcons jumped out with an early lead in this game, but Perry’s score on top of their best defender evened the odds. Then it became a rout. Perry scored again later as the Saints poured it on, and New Orleans eventually called it a day after going up 48-17. Atlanta has spent big this offseason to rebuild their credibility after that embarrassment, including this extension with Terrell. We’ll see if that results in more wins when the season starts in September.

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Jalen Saunders’ 99-yard kick return is the Saints Play of the Day

Jalen Saunders’ 99-yard kick return is the Saints Play of Day 18. Here’s the best play he made in the No. 18 jersey:

There are 18 days to go until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 regular season, so here’s the best play that Jalen Saunders made in the No. 18 jersey. Saunders returned the opening kickoff against the Atlanta Falcons for 99 yards back in 2014, which you can watch here.

Good blocking created a lot of room for Saunders to work with, and he dashed past a couple of too-slow Falcons defenders in the open field. But he slowed down too soon and was cut off at the goal line, losing the football on his way to the ground. Fortunately he was ruled down by contact and his teammate Mark Ingram punched in a touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage.

It was still a great moment for Saunders to start his pro career. He had a tough go of it while spending time with several different teams after turning pro out of Oklahoma, and the Saints actually traded him to the New England Patriots a few months later. But highlights like this are what everyone looks back on most fondly, and Saunders deserves some credit for all the good things he did in this big play in a big-time rivalry game.

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Taysom Hill’s 20-yard TD run is the Saints Play of the Day

Taysom Hill’s 20-yard touchdown run is the New Orleans Saints Play of the Day. It was the first 20-yard carry for the Saints in 2023:

There are 20 days left until the start of the New Orleans Saints’ 2024 regular season, which means Taysom Hill’s 20-yard touchdown run is the Saints Play of the Day. Hill’s big score was was the first 20-yard carry for the Saints in 2023, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Indianapolis Colts had taken a 17-7 lead over the Saints and to that point in Dennis Allen’s tenure double-digit deficits had proved insurmountable.

So leave it to Hill to kick the door open. Hill followed his blockers and cut through the middle of the Colts defense, running upfield and at an angle that  made it difficult for the defenders to pursue him. He shook one would-be tackle and outran his competition the rest of the way.

And the Saints wound up winning this game. Hill ran in another touchdown  later in the game to put things out of reach for Indianapolis, and the Saints went home with a 38-27 victory. It was arguably the most impressive win of Allen’s coaching career, but we’ll need to see moxie like this for a successful campaign in 2024.

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Drew Brees’ record-tying 21-yard TD pass is the Saints Play of the Day

Drew Brees’ record-tying 21-yard touchdown pass against the Colts is the Saints Play of the Day. It was an auspicious performance for No. 9:

We’re down to 21 days until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 regular season, which makes Drew Brees’ record-tying 21-yard touchdown pass our pick for the Saints Play of the Day.

It was an auspicious performance for No. 9 on “Monday Night Football” against the Indianapolis Colts. Brees finished the game by completing 29 of 30 passes, an NFL record for single-game completion percentage (96.7%). But that wasn’t the only record Brees took that night.

Brees also tied (and later broke) Peyton Manning’s record for career touchdown passes. Tre’Quan Smith caught this 21-yard pass to fight through  two Colts defenders and break the plane at the goal line, scoring the record-tier. And he would’ve had the record-breaker later on a 5-yard touchdown pass, but it was called back for an offensive pass interference penalty.

Instead, Brees broke the record on the next drive with a 5-yard pass to tight end Josh Hill, shattering the career record Peyton Manning had set. He finished the game going 29-of-30 for 304 yards with four touchdown passes, without taking a sack or turning the ball over. It was a vintage performance from an all-time great.

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Ricky Williams’ 26-yard rushing TD against the Falcons is our Saints Play of the Day

Ricky Williams scored all three of the Saints’ touchdowns to beat the Falcons in 2000. This 26-yard run is our Saints Play of the Day:

There are 26 days standing between us and the start of the New Orleans Saints’ regular season, which makes this 26-yard touchdown run by Ricky Williams our choice for the Saints Play of the Day.

It was a pivotal play back in 2000’s rivalry game with the Atlanta Falcons, which you can find here. Williams took the handoff facing a 13-7 deficit and quickly erased it. Good blocking on the edge gave him plenty of room to work and Williams cut upfield and into the Atlanta defense. He dove into the end zone from four yards out, evading a couple of Falcons defenders, for the equalizer. An extra point try from Doug Brien gave New Orleans the lead and the Saints held on for a 21-19 win at the Georgia Dome.

And it was almost all thanks to Williams, who scored all three of the Saints’ touchdowns in this game. He totaled 156 rushing yards on the afternoon (also tacking on 37 receiving yards) and looked exactly like the player former Saints head coach Mike Ditka had traded a king’s ransom to acquire. Ditka had since been replaced by Jim Haslett, who guided the team to a 10-6 record and their first playoff win later that season.

Williams played a big part in their success while accounting for 1,000 of the team’s 2,068 rushing yards. His Saints career didn’t meet the lofty expectations it had been saddled with, but he still came through and made some big plays in big moments like this one.

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Devery Henderson’s 39-yard bobbling catch is the Saints Play of the Day

We continue our Play of the Day countdown with No. 39, and Devery Henderson’s 39-yard bobbled reception over the middle:

We are now under 40 days to go until the New Orleans Saints take on the Carolina Panthers in Week 1, with 39 days remaining, meaning this 39-yard bobbled reception by Devery Henderson is our Saints Play of the Day. For this highlight, we went back to 2010, when the Saints took on the Arizona Cardinals and Larry Fitzgerald. This was not the strongest game for Drew Brees either, who went 24 for 39 with 279 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions.

On this play of the day, Brees underthrew Henderson, who got about three yards of separation over a tripping defensive back before having to slow down and turn around for the ball. Ultimately, Henderson got his hands on it, bobbled it while turning around to run, but then re-caught it and was tackled for a 39-yard gain.

While the game ended up resulting in a Saints loss by a score of 30-20, at the time of the play it was extremely critical. The catch was right before halftime, and put the Saints within field goal range, which John Carney would end up making after a few incompletions. This put the Saints up 13-10 right before halftime, despite not playing exceptionally well to that point. Unfortunately the loss tainted this play, but it was one of the more impressive plays from Henderson in his career.

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Rashid Shaheed’s 41-yard burner is the Saints Play of the Day

We continue our Play of the Day countdown with No. 41, and Rashid Shaheed’s 41-yard reception deep down the left sideline.

There are only 41 days remaining between us and the New Orleans Saints’ Week 1 matchup against their division rivals, the Carolina Panthers, meaning this 41-yard reception by Rashid Shaheed is our Saints Play of the Day. This is our second Play of the Day recently from the Saints’ season-opening game with the Tennessee Titans last year, with Chris Olave’s 45-yard reception also on the list. As mentioned in that article, Olave had a fantastic game, but Shaheed’s performance should not be overlooked either, as he contributed greatly to the Saints’ win. He just about put the game away by himself.

The play came with the Saints up 16-15 with 1:55 left in the 4th quarter, and it was on 3rd and 6 from the Saints 33-yard line. They desperately needed to convert as if they did not it would have resulted in the Titans getting the ball back with enough time to drive into field goal range. However, Shaheed was not letting that happen, absolutely torching Kristian Fulton down the left sideline and making a catch before falling off balance and out of bounds at the Tennessee 26-yard line.

This set up the Saints to run a few times for one more first down, and then kneel out the game, starting the season off 1-0 and winning a close battle full of big plays.

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Brandon Coleman’s 42-yard reception is the Saints Play of the Day

We continue our Play of the Day countdown with No. 42, and Brandon Coleman’s 42-yard reception against the dynastic New England Patriots:

We have made it to 42 days remaining until the New Orleans Saints Week 1 kickoff against the Carolina Panthers, making this 42-yard reception by Brandon Coleman our Saints Play of the Day. In this battle between Drew Brees versus Tom Brady, we got to witness some impressive games from both Michael Thomas and Brandon Coleman.

Despite ending with an eventual 36-20 loss for the Saints, this play led a field goal drive that brought the Saints within touching distance at 20-13. The drive had all but stalled out at 3rd and 9 on the New Orleans 40-yard line, but Brandon Coleman (thanks to a Sean Payton play design) got absolutely wide open due to three routes crossing over each other, sparking defensive confusion. Coleman ran along the sideline and shed a low tackle before being pushed out of bounds at the New England 18-yard line.

This play was the most prominent of the day for Coleman, but he also had a 5-yard touchdown catch earlier in the game. He ended the day with 4 receptions for 82 yards (20.5 yards per catch) and a touchdown. The Saints figured some things out in this loss to the Patriots, though, and they won their next eight games with Coleman making a lot of plays as their primary blocking wideout. It was ultimately a career day for Coleman, as he would end up retiring in 2019 after suffering a career-ending neck injury.

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