Saints running back Alvin Kamara was already enjoying a historic day against the Vikings on Christmas Day with five rushing touchdowns. Kamara was on the precipice of even more with 4:03 left in the game. Had he scored once again on the run from the Minnesota one-yard line, he would have joined Ernie Nevers in 1929, Dub Jones in 1951, and Gale Sayers in 1965 as the only players with six touchdowns in a game, and the only player in NFL history with six rushing touchdowns in a single game in the modern era — Nevers also did it way back when.
Instead, head coach Sean Payton put backup quarterback/running back/tight end Taysom Hill in the game, and a one-yard Hill touchdown run was the result.
Taysom Hill powers it in for SIX!
The @saints extend their lead late in the 4th.
📺: #MINvsNO on NFLN/FOX/PRIME VIDEO pic.twitter.com/zplIFwJQ5a
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) December 26, 2020
Not to denigrate Hill’s efforts, but what the heck was Payton thinking here? Kamara had been blasting through Minnesota’s stacked boxes all day, he could have set a record that might never be broken, and this is what happens. It will be interesting to see how Payton explains himself in the post-game press conference. Unless Kamara was injured or worn out from all those previous touchdowns, that was a weird call.
Alvin Kamara scores his 5th rushing TD of the night on this 7-yard run against a Vikings stacked box (8+ defenders).
Kamara has scored on all 4 runs against stacked boxes tonight, the most such touchdowns in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016).#MINvsNO | Powered by @awscloud pic.twitter.com/IycvLzZrsZ
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 26, 2020
