When they needed it most, the Saints turned to one of their bread-and-butter plays to plow into the endzone for a dagger touchdown.
So why did the Patriots look like they'd never seen it before?
Well, the confusion actually started on the previous play, with quarterback Taysom Hill coming in behind the heaviest formation possible -- only for a designed pass. Hill said when he got on the field he saw the look the Patriots were in, and was pretty sure the designed pop pass to Adam Trautman leaking off the end of the line downfield wouldn't work.
The Patriots had 11 players up on the line against 10 Saints players appearing set as blockers, but the frontside defender sank on the only route and took it away. So Hill did what he does best and pulled it down, skirting around the edge of the defense for a hard-earned first down.
That's where things got interesting. On the next play, the Saints brought starting QB Jameis Winston back onto the field, only to line him up in a stack out wide along with Alvin Kamara. The design worked even better than anticipated, drawing two Patriots defenders out wide to cover decoy receivers and leaving an extra soft box for the Saints to run a favorite QB power look.
The play even featured one fewer defender, with the Patriots failing to make a personnel switch -- confusion that was possibly driven by the Saints' two-QB personnel.
WWL analyst Deuce McAllister pointed out that the Patriots defender was trying to get onto the field late, but because the snap was in the red zone he'd have been unable to get into position quickly enough to avoid an offsides call.
Garrett Griffin kicks out to block the wide defender as Andrus Peat pulls from his right guard spot, but there was no defender to block and Hill powers into the end zone easily for the score. Chances are the Patriots defense got an earful during film review this week.
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