Our countdown to the New Orleans Saints‘ season opener has reached 29 days, which means this 29-yard touchdown by Alvin Kamara is the Saints Play of the Day. Now, that’s a gross oversimplification of the play; Kamara didn’t just sprint 29 yards downfield and score. You can see it all unfold for yourself right here, but let’s break it down.
Dennis Allen’s defense had just stopped the Seahawks on fourth down, and Bridgewater went to work, flipping the field with a series of sharp passes to Ted Ginn Jr. (for 5 yards), Michael Thomas (14 yards), Jared Cook (7 yards), and Kamara (3 yards), until the offense set up on Seattle’s 29-yard line. Then, with just 42 seconds left in the half, Sean Payton called a screen.
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And the Saints executed it beautifully. Ryan Ramczyk and Terron Armstead hung back to throw some Seahawks defenders around and give Kamara room to run. Teddy Bridgewater gave him a great pass. Ahead of him, Erik McCoy, Larry Warford, and Andrus Peat got downhill to open a lane (with Ginn throwing a key block at the second level). Two Seahawks closed in but Kamara quite literally slipped through their fingers to tiptoe down the sideline and into the end zone for six points.
This was, at the time, one of Kamara’s biggest games. He totaled 161 yards from scrimmage on the afternoon (69 as a rusher, 92 as a receiver) and later scored another touchdown to extend the lead. This was the Saints’ first full game without Drew Brees, who had torn a ligament in his throwing hand a week earlier against the Los Angeles Rams, and there were real doubts that they could win without him. Instead, Bridgewater and Kamara and their teammates saved the season by winning six weeks in a row. And it all started here in Seattle.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Saints Play of the Day: Alvin Kamara’s must-see 29-yard touchdown