We’ve reached Day 38 in our countdown to the New Orleans Saints‘ season opener, which means we’re going with a throwback for the Saints Play of the Day. Aaron Brooks and Michael Lewis teamed up to take an early lead over Jon Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers make in 2003. You can see the big score for yourself right here.
Lewis had a big game; he totaled 3 receptions for 69 yards plus 96 return yards off of 3 kick returns and a pair of punt returns. The Saints offense set up at the Tampa Bay 38-yard line, but Brooks took the snap out of the shotgun, so really he was throwing from midfield. And Brooks put the ball where only Lewis could catch it, dropping his pass down over the heads of two Buccaneers defenders with a third closing in. Lewis caught the pass at Tampa’s 1-yard line and fell backwards for a touchdown.
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It proved to be a decisive play. Deuce McAllister set a franchise record with his sixth consecutive 100-yard game, but New Orleans was stopped on fourth-and-short, and the Buccaneers rallied back with a 14-point fourth quarter. It all came down to a 47-yard field goal from, who else, John Carney; the much-maligned kicker from the “River City Relay” disaster. He made good this time, and the Saints handed the Bucs a 17-14 loss on their home turf. But it was a near thing, and it wouldn’t have happened if Brooks and Lewis didn’t find paydirt early in the afternoon.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints Play of the Day: Aaron Brooks-to-Michael Lewis 39-yard TD pass