Payton and Brees, стр. 69
After suffering a close 27–20 loss to the longtime-rival Dallas Cowboys the previous week, the Eagles undoubtedly were ready for the challenge of facing the Saints in the Superdome.
But were they able?
They entered the game with a makeshift secondary. Their two starting cornerbacks (Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills) and one of their starting safeties (Rodney McLeod) were sidelined with injuries. Corner Sidney Jones was in the lineup after missing three games with a hamstring injury but was not 100 percent.
The Saints wasted no time in attacking Jones, who limped into the game with a balky hamstring. Sean Payton targeted him all week in the game plan, and the Saints went after him on their first snap from scrimmage. Drew Brees put Alvin Kamara in motion to the left and slid the offensive line in that direction. The Eagles defense bit on the motion, leaving the right side wide open for Mark Ingram, who rambled past a weak arm tackle by Jones for a 38-yard gain.
It didn’t get any better from there for Philly. Jones was injured early and played just 22 snaps. Safety/nickel corner Avonte Maddox suffered an injured knee in the second quarter and didn’t return. That left defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz with a defensive backfield manned by seldom-used 2017 third-round draft pick Rasul Douglas and three players who weren’t even on the roster two weeks earlier: Chandon Sullivan, Cre’Von LeBlanc, and De’Vante Bausby.
Brees and Payton mercilessly attacked the Eagles’ overmatched secondary with an array of motions, formations, and play-action fakes. The Saints kicked a field goal on their opening drive, then scored touchdowns on their next two possessions. A little more than a quarter into the game, they led 17–0 and had outgained the Eagles 232 to 15 in total yards.
By the time it was over, the Saints had scored on 8 of 10 possessions and embarrassed the Eagles with a 48–7 demolition, the most lopsided defeat ever for a defending Super Bowl champion. It was also the worst loss in Eagles history and by far the worst in Doug Pederson’s coaching career.
“I haven’t gotten my butt kicked like that in a long time,” Philadelphia defensive end Chris Long said.
Brees completed 22 of 30 passes for 363 yards and four touchdowns. His passer efficiency rating of 153.2 was the fourth highest ever recorded against the Eagles. He wasn’t sacked and was moved off his mark just twice the entire game.
In all, the Saints piled up 546 yards of offense, the third-highest total against the Eagles in the modern era. And it could have been worse had Payton not called off the dogs and subbed Teddy Bridgewater for Brees with 5:28 left in the game.
Brees’ fourth touchdown exemplified Payton’s take-no-prisoners approach to the game. He hit Kamara in stride down the right sideline for 37 yards on a fourth-and-7 play that gave the Saints a 45–7 lead early in the fourth quarter. Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, a 2009 first-round Saints draft pick, defiantly flipped the bird at Payton after being beaten on the play.
The Eagles tried to throw a curveball at the Saints by consistently double-teaming their top two playmakers—Michael Thomas and Kamara—and playing man-to-man on everyone else. It was a look the Saints had not seen from the Philadelphia defense during film study. But Brees and Payton simply called on other options. Tre’Quan Smith caught 10 passes for 157 yards and Ingram added 103 rushing yards.
Afterward, Brees gave a classic answer when asked about the Saints’ offensive efficiency and production.
“There’s still a process,” he said. “Each and every week, the game plan that the coaches work so hard to put together, the time that we need in practice to make sure that we are executing that plan to perfection. The time that I need with the receivers and the running backs and the tight ends. There’s just so much that goes into that. We don’t take that for granted. You don’t just snap your fingers and come out and play like that. A lot of time on task, and great effort, and great focus and attention to detail. We do come out with a lot of confidence because we know the amount of preparation that has gone into that.”
23. The Saint Patrick’s Day That Almost Was
The Payton-Loomis spat wasn’t the only potential threat to the Payton-Brees partnership.
A few months after Sean Payton recommitted to New Orleans, a different dilemma nearly presented itself to the head coach, one that also might have led to a premature split in the marriage.
The Saints didn’t enter the 2017 NFL Draft looking for a quarterback. Drew Brees was still playing at an elite level, and the club had not invested a high draft pick in a quarterback in decades. Since Brees joined the Saints in 2006, the club had largely avoided quarterbacks in the NFL Draft. With Brees around, they had the luxury of concentrating on other positions in the draft. While Payton would say the Saints were “always in the quarterback business,” the position was a low draft priority. Garrett Grayson, who was selected in the third round of the 2015 draft, and Sean Canfield, who was picked in the seventh round of the 2010 draft, were the only quarterbacks drafted by the Saints in the Payton-Brees era.
Besides, the Saints had more pressing needs that year. New Orleans was still fortifying its defense from the grim 2014–15 days, and cornerback was viewed as the team’s top priority.
But as the first round transpired on Thursday, April 27, the prospect of using the No. 11 overall pick on a quarterback gradually inched closer to reality for Payton and the Saints, because the highest-rated quarterback on their draft board, Patrick Mahomes, was falling their way.
Slowly but surely, the picks improbably ticked off the board.
Wide receiver Corey Davis to the Titans at No. 5.
Safety Jamal Adams to the