This 87-yard TD from Drew Brees to Brandin Cooks is the Saints Play of the Day
This 87-yard TD from Drew Brees to Brandin Cooks is the Saints Play of the Day Drew Brees threw for 465 yards and still almost lost
We're continuing to count down the days remaining until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2025 season with Day 87, which makes this 87-yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees to Brandin Cooks our choice for the Saints Play of the Day. Every yard and point gained on the play ended up counting in a last-second win against the Carolina Panthers.
Sure, things got off to a good start. The Saints offense banged out 21 unanswered points to take a quick lead, including this great pass from Brees to Cooks down the sideline (which you can see here). Cam Newton threw an interception to Sterling Moore in the New Orleans end zone in response. Then things got goofy. Carolina orchestrated five scoring drives of 50-plus yards each and put the Saints defense on its heels; they kept up a frenzied pace and scored 21 points of their own in the fourth quarter to close the gap. It took a 52-yard field goal from Wil Lutz with just 11 seconds left in regulation to break the 38-38 tie and put the game away.
That was the way games went for the Saints in the mid-2010's. Brees threw for 465 yards and four scores, with Cooks accounting for 173 of those yards, and New Orleans still nearly lost at home. This was Dennis Allen's first year as the full-time defensive coordinator after Rob Ryan was ousted midway through the 2015 season, and they still had a lot of work to do on that side of the ball. Things would eventually settle down and even turn into a strength, defensively, but in the meantime New Orleans needed every deep shot from Brees to Cooks they could connect.
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