New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - The distance on 4th-and-1 may be short, but the memories are long

I remember this like it was yesterday!
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At some point in the upcoming NFL season, every team in the league will find itself trying to convert a critical fourth-and-one situation. Jobs on the line, playoff hopes possibly hanging in the balance, the crowd in full throat and viewers at home sitting on the edge of their seats. SI.com delves here into the emotions involved in such plays (on both sides of the ball), and continues on page two with a sidebar article on why slow-footed Tom Brady may be the best short-yardage converter the NFL has ever seen. (No, seriously).

Even from his facedown vantage point, staring at the top of Atlanta tailback Michael Turner's cleats, and nose-to-blade with the ersatz grass on the carpeted surface of the Georgia Dome, Malcolm Jenkins sensed what manner of havoc was transpiring with the canopy about 20 stories above him.

At least figuratively.

"It was like somebody stuck a huge pin or something in the [roof]," recalled the New Orleans free safety in the wake of the memorable fourth-and-one stop in which he played a critical role in the Saints' overtime victory at Atlanta nearly two years ago. "I mean, like, all the air was sucked out of the place." And then this: "Game over."

Sure enough, less than 2½ minutes and four plays after Jenkins and several other New Orleans defenders stuffed Turner cold, John Kasay knocked home the 26-yard winning field goal. Game over, indeed.

Twenty-two months after the play, despite emerging as one of the NFL's best young free safeties, Jenkins' tackle of Turner at the Falcons' 29 remains one of the highlight-reel snippets from the former first-rounder's four-year career. And even though only the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots have registered more than the Falcons' 19 victories (counting playoffs) since that Nov. 13, 2011 loss, that defeat -- or at least coach Mike Smith's decision to gamble on fourth-and-one in his own territory -- is one of the most debated plays in recent franchise history. Definitely, it is one of the most unforgettable, and at the same time ignominious, for players, coaches and fans.

For those who make the play, either on offense or defense, the success is uplifting. For those who fail, it can be an equally defining moment. No, the Teflon and fibreglass that comprise the Georgia Dome roof didn't implode, like a balloon pierced by an ice pick, as Jenkins suggested, on the much debated play. But that short-yardage shortcoming was a depressing moment for the Falcons. "It still hurts," said Turner, released by Atlanta this spring

Read More: The distance on 4th-and-1 may be short, but the memories are long - NFL - SI.com