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Back on Sept. 23, Saints receiver Michael Thomas described coming to New Orleans in 2016 as a sort of calling, and he told me its purpose was to right the wrong of an all-time great quarterback having just one Super Bowl ring. As Thomas explained that night, “I was brought here to send him out the right way.”

Three months later that mission is on track, with the finish line in sight.

And again, it was a critical play from the best receiver Drew Brees has ever played with that inched the Saints closer to that destination. This one came on second-and-goal with 1:28 left, New Orleans down 28-24 and the ball at the Steelers 2-yard line. Brees took the shotgun snap and sprinted right. Thomas, split right, was isolated on Steelers corner Joe Haden. What happened next is what’s become predictable.

Thomas shook his shoulders at the line, broke outside towards the corner, then back at the pylon. Even in the close quarters of the red zone, the 6’3”, 212-pounder was able to create enough separation for Brees to get the ball to him. The only question? Whether Thomas, as he came back to it, overran the goal line and left the end zone before putting the ball away. Initially, th officials (and we’ll get to them a little later on) ruled that he did.

“I definitely knew my feet were in but the ref was playing me right there [on the line],” Thomas said over the phone from the Saints locker room last night. “He didn’t put his hands up right away. So that kind of threw me off a little bit. But once it went to review, I knew it was a touchdown.”



So did everyone else. And as a result, the 2018 Saints won’t play another game outdoors—their foray into the NFC playoffs will be held exclusively at the Superdome and, should they get there, Super Bowl LIII is set for Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium—and enter the postseason as the prohibitive favorite to win it all.

There’s still plenty of work to do, but what Thomas sees now is a lot of that promise of September turning into production, on both a personal and a team level. Which only has him, and the Saints, redoubling their efforts to give their QB what they believe he so richly deserves.


“One hundred percent,” Thomas said. “That’s why I show up every week. That’s why I’ve been here. When he shows up at quarterback and he’s out there, I’m showing up with him, no matter how my body feels no matter, what I’m going through, it doesn’t matter. I got to be out there with my guy. I got to be that safety blanket for him. Ted [Ginn] was down, younger players had to step, and I had to respond.

“I got his back 100 percent. He’s committed. I’m committed right along with him.”

That commitment got tested the last few weeks. But the Saints believe they’re coming out the other side of that “slump” better for having gone through it.

SI.COM

homerj07

He has been an awesome WR since we got him. Lucked out in the 2nd round