Smart coaches often borrow from the success of their peers.
Sean Payton is no exception to this rule.
When Payton called for a trick play, one that resulted in Jameis Winston hitting Tre’Quan Smith for a touchdown, he was using a design that Matt Nagy dialed up a week ago against the New Orleans Saints themselves. As was pointed out by Benjamin Solak of The Draft Network, a week ago the Chicago Bears aligned David Montgomery in the backfield to take a direct snap. Upon receiving the football he immediately flipped it forward to Cordarrelle Patterson, who in turn got the ball back to Mitchell Trubisky. The quarterback looked for Javon Wims in the end zone, but the receiver dropped thru throw:
It IS the Bears play. Payton you dog. pic.twitter.com/Z4dxpLWE3o
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) January 18, 2021
Seeing how it almost worked against his team, Payton put it in the playbook.
Only this time, it worked for the offense:
JAMEIS WINSTON. 56-YARD TOUCHDOWN.#ForNOLA #NFLPlayoffs
📺: #TBvsNO on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/kJOiprK712 pic.twitter.com/lf8FVvOJib— NFL (@NFL) January 18, 2021
The NFL is a copycat league, after all…
