Payton and Brees, стр. 34
The touchdown was the culmination of hours of work by the Saints staff. Every detail of the play—the personnel grouping, the formation and alignment down to the width of the receiver splits, the waggle by Hill, the play-fake by Brees and Kamara, the route by Thomas—was hashed out in offensive meetings as the Saints compiled their red-zone game plan for the Vikings. Then it was put into motion and repped on the practice field that Friday afternoon. And it was all done knowing the situation might not materialize in the game or see the light of the day.
“It was textbook,” former Saints offensive assistant Joe Brady said. “It worked exactly like Sean said it would during the week. He painted the picture exactly like it played out. It was special.”
Backup quarterback Chase Daniel admitted being dubious of the play when Payton installed it that Friday.
“I just remember thinking, ‘What is this play? This play is like something out of Pop Warner. They’re never going to fall for it. They’re an NFL defense,’” Daniel said. “Sure enough, the first chance he gets, when we need it, when we’re down there in the right situation, he calls it and it is wide open—like completely wide open.”
The touchdown silenced the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd and fueled a fourth-quarter comeback that should have gone down in Saints history. Instead, Diggs’ heroics rendered it an afterthought. Regardless, it exemplified why Payton is considered one of the great offensive coaches in NFL history.
“He’s been doing it a long time and he’s very creative,” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said of Payton. “The thing is with Sean, too, he’s going to exhaust the film, like most coaches. But I think he definitely goes above and beyond to exhaust the tape. He’s going to find something that he can exploit in your defense.”
One of Payton’s favorite finds came in Week 12 of the 2018 season, when he noticed a weakness in the Atlanta defense during film prep for the teams’ nationally televised Thanksgiving night game. The Falcons zone pass coverage had a flaw he hoped to exploit. When Atlanta opponents were in a 3-by-1 set with three receivers to one side of the offensive formation and changed the strength of their formation late against the Falcons defense, it put weak-side linebacker De’Vondre Campbell in a difficult spot. Not only was he expected to stop the run, but he also was responsible for covering the deep third of the secondary on the back side of the defense, an almost impossible task. The Saints installed a play that week to attack this weakness and planned to use it when they were just outside the Falcons 20-yard line, an area the Saints referred to as the fringe red zone on the call sheet.
To make the play even more effective, Payton installed it with Tommylee Lewis as the primary receiver. The diminutive speedster was activated that week for the first time since suffering an injury in Week 2 and probably would be overlooked in the Falcons game- planning. The idea was to use Thomas to attract the focus of the coverage and slip Lewis behind the unsuspecting secondary in the opposite direction. Further, the Saints threw in some window dressing, pulling left guard Andrus Peat and having Brees fake a handoff in the backfield to Mark Ingram to sell a run play. Payton was so confident in the play’s potential success he told Thomas during the week he would have the best view in the Superdome of Lewis’ touchdown as he ran his fade route into the right corner of the end zone.
Payton didn’t waste any time in dialing it up from his extensive menu of plays. After the Saints marched to the Falcons 28-yard line on their opening drive, Payton sent in the call from the sideline.
Just as he anticipated, Brees’ play-action fake lured Campbell into two false steps toward the flow of the play in the Saints backfield. Lewis, from his starting spot in the right slot, snuck unimpeded into the heart of the Falcons defense and raced past the Falcons linebackers on an over route to the left. Suddenly, safety Damontae Kazee, who was aligned alone in center field, was caught in a pickle, with Lewis racing in front of him to his right and Thomas and Keith Kirkwood running go routes to his left. It was one of the easiest pitch-and-catches Brees would make all season. Lewis hauled in the 28-yard pass untouched.
“When they drew up the play during the week, Coach [Payton] explained how it would play out and it played out the exact same way in the game,” Lewis said. “We knew they would concentrate their coverage on Michael and he would hold that corner and safety (away from the play). All I had to do was beat the linebacker.”
When describing the play later, Payton said wryly, “Connor [Payton’s son] could have made that throw.”
Payton values film study as much as any coach in football. He believes the process is a critical part of an NFL coach’s job, the staff’s inherent obligation to the rest of the team. It’s why he requires his coaches to work 18-hour days during the season and why he built a sleep room on the second floor of the Saints training facility with bunk beds and curtains to aid the process.
Consequently, the Saints offensive staff has earned a reputation among its peers as one of the most creative, hard-working groups in the NFL. All NFL coaches grind, to some degree. But the Saints take pride in going the extra mile