WWLTV.com
Everyone loves lists. Everyone (at least in this city) also loves the Saints. So, why not combine the two?
This project began when a reader asked us about ranking the best players in Saints history. Since WWLTV.com had done that list prior to the 2009 season, we began to think about something that can always be discussed.
Immediately it turned to the most clutch plays in Saints history. This isn’t the definitive list; you may, in fact, disagree with some of the placements or some of the plays.
But what can’t be disputed is that the plays on this list were all memorable in their own right.
Our definition of clutch goes a little something like this: A big play, and in one case, series of plays, in a big game at a crucial moment in time. It’s a play that if it doesn’t happen, the outcome is likely changed in the game.
Several on the list came from the Super Bowl-winning season but that’s expected. Several did not.
And anyway, what better way to get people geared up for the season should a new Collective Bargaining Agreement come to fruition soon.
No. 10 The Beltway Burglary
Robert Meachem didn’t exactly have the best start to his career in New Orleans. His entire rookie season was spent on the inactive gameday list. He caught only 12 passes in his second season.
But he broke out in his third season, catching 45 passes for 722 yards and nine touchdowns.
He also broke into the hearts and minds of Saints’ fans everywhere with what WWLTV Sports Reporter Scott Cody calls the Beltway Burglary, one of the 10-most clutch plays in Saints history as voted on by our panel.
“If you remove the stage and circumstances, Meachem's strip-6 is as clutch a play as I've ever seen,” Cody said. “For an offensive player to have the presence of mind to immediately become a defender off a devastating pick was impressive. There wasn't the mindset of just to get the ball carrier down. It was to take back what Meachem believed was rightfully his – the ball.
“It was at that moment that I realized there was something special about this team and this season.”
But like so many other plays that made this list, stage and circumstance play a vital role. And for Meachem, the stage, at least at the time, couldn’t have gotten any bigger.
The Saints went to Washington 11-0, having just smothered annual league contender New England 38-17 on national TV. The Redskins, meanwhile, were in a tailspin at 3-8 and losers of seven of their previous eight games.
Nevertheless, Washington took a quick 10-0 lead. The Saints came back to tie it but Washington answered with a nine-play, 78-yard drive that gave it a 17-10 lead late in the first half.
The momentum, you could say, was with the Redskins.
Washington forced a three-and-out and the Saints got their first break, recovering a muffed punt. It only portended the near future.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees was trying to make a play on third-and-26, scrambling away from oncoming defenders. But he tried to do a little too much and launched an ill-fated pass over the middle towards tight end Jeremy Shockey.
That’s when Meachem sprung into action, watching as Kareem Moore intercepted the pass from Brees.
Meachem darted down the sideline towards Moore, unleashing a surprise attack from behind. He stripped the ball from Moore, dug his foot into the grass and changed direction, heading towards the end zone.
He wasn’t caught and the play might just have saved the Saints from disaster.
Though New Orleans still had a tough game left, needing a missed field goal and overtime to improve to 12-0, the play was a critical part of the comeback win.
And it’s as clutch an individual play as you’ll likely see with the game not in the waning seconds.
Our panel: Tom Planchet, former WWL-TV sports producer and current operations manager for WWLTV.com; Scott Cody, WWL-TV Sports Reporter/Anchor; Adam Ney, WWL-TV Sports Producer; Danny Rockwell, WWL-TV Sports Producer; Garland Gillen, WWL-TV Sports Photographer and Reporter; Mike Hoss, former WWL-TV Sports Reporter and current WWL-TV anchor; Larry Holder, CBSSports.com writer and The Sports Hangover radio show co-host; Gus Kattengell, The Sports Hangover radio show co-host; Kristian Garic, WWL Radio host and Saints radio sideline reporter; Pat Yasinskas, ESPN.com NFC South writer; WWLTV.com contributor Ralph Malbrough; Bradley Handwerger, WWLTV.com Sports Writer.
