The 10 Most Impactful Plays From Week 1
2. Snead Needs a Helping Hand
Win Probability Added: +27.90
NEP: +5.16
New Orleans Saints wide receiver Willie Snead was decried by many in the football industry as a one-year wonder, due to a bad defense and a lack of viable pass-catchers around quarterback Drew Brees. Now with an improvement at tight end in Coby Fleener and a first-round talent at wideout on the team, Michael Thomas, Snead still is doing the heavy lifting in the receiving corps. But sometimes even he needs some help.
At 4:12 in the video below, you can see this play. Just after the Raiders punched in their first two-point conversion of the night to tie the game, the Saints needed to regain momentum and put the ball game away. Halfway through the final quarter, they had a 2nd-and-seven situation in their own territory.
With a trips wide receiver formation left, Brees took on the five-man rush of Oakland, climbed the pocket, and delivered a rainbow into Snead’s hands. Defensive backs D.J. Hayden and Reggie Nelson slammed into Snead, forcing the ball to squirt forward. From out of nowhere, rookie Michael Thomas flew in, scooping up the ball and rolling to the Oakland two-yard line. That’s teamwork.
