Saints achieve desired fast start with wrinkles on opening drive.
 

‘I think Coach Payton is a genius'

The sometimes quarterback, running back, H-back and whatever other concoction the New Orleans Saints have squirreled away in that playbook summarized his head coach in six letters.

“I think Coach (Sean) Payton is a genius,” Taysom Hill said. “You never know what he’s going to draw up.”

Indeed, that must have been the reaction the Minnesota Vikings had on the game’s opening drive Sunday (Oct. 28), when Hill made his first NFL start and then stayed on the field throughout to either hurt the Vikings defense with his versatile skills or at least make them think about the ways he could.

Certainly the Vikings thought Hill was going to run the read option when the Saints dropped him back behind center on the opening drive. That was the idea, Hill said, a look the Saints have been setting up all season, waiting for the right time to let Hill air it out downfield. Sunday, it resulted in a 44-yard completion to Michael Thomas.

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What were the Vikings thinking when the Saints, for one play, brought all three quarterbacks on the field at once, with Teddy Bridgewater and Drew Brees both split out wide?

“Sean’s got so many plays, man, I don’t even think we finished the sheet of openers,” said left tackle Terron Armstead. “His mind works differently than a lot of people’s.

“He can have some plays scripted where we feel like we want these 10 plays to open with, then he sees something else and that’s where he’s going.”

The play that wrapped up the Saints’ eight-play, 81-yard touchdown drive to open the game was a nifty one in its own right, with Alvin Kamara motioning in from the perimeter at the snap and catching a flip from Brees for a touchdown on third-and-goal.

Hill said there existed a day this season when he was surprised by the wrinkles Payton would sprinkle into the game plan.

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Re: Saints achieve desired fast start with wrinkles on opening drive.
 

The Saints are 4-0 on the road. Defeating two top defenses in their house is impressive.

Sports analyst & "experts" who throw out the narrative that the Saints don't play well on the road ... nonsense.

Re: Saints achieve desired fast start with wrinkles on opening drive.
 

Don't forget "The SAINTS are a DOME TEAM" whatever that means! The last time I looked the stadium at Purdue doesn't have a lid on it. I see it everyday!

Re: Saints achieve desired fast start with wrinkles on opening drive.
 

I knew the bomb from hill was coming... I even called it a couple of days ago in another thread. Everyone sees Hill running or handing off repeatedly. It was a matter of time for the Safteys to come up and play the run.