Imagine lining up for a potential game tying field goal and you look up and see video of you shanking a kick last year on the video board 😂 #Saints pic.twitter.com/2jmnCaXJV7
— Reggie Chatman Jr. (@ReggieChatman) October 25, 2020
The New Orleans Saints took down the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but they did so by about half a yard on a would-be record-breaking field goal try from Panthers kicker Joey Slye.
When Slye trotted out near the two-minute warning to attempt a 65-yard field goal to tie the game and potentially send it to overtime, the Saints got creative. When Slye looked up to judge the distance, he saw himself projected on the 37-foot-tall video board.
Last year, Slye shanked a 28-yard try that cost his Panthers a 34-31 loss to the Saints in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. And the New Orleans video crew played that lowlight for him to relive just before his next kick.
That attempt came up short, but barely so — it would have been good from 64 yards, maybe 64 and a half. But the ball fell just beneath the crossbar to give the Saints the ball, leading to their 27-24 win. See it for yourself:
64.5 yard kick. Oof pic.twitter.com/ErXae78PHK
— Black & Gold Review (@BnGreview) October 25, 2020
Maybe that little jab at Slye helped. Probably not; he’s a professional, after all. But maybe it did. Either way, it’s exactly the sort of pettiness that you’d expect from the always-intense NFC South rivalry.
