The Saints Hit A 58-Yard FG As Time Expired To Negate A Deshaun Watson-Led Comeback

The first installment of Monday Night Football in 2019 yielded a wild pivot in terms of game production but, after the amusement of ESPN changing its graphics package after only one half, a fantastic football game took over. In the end, New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz walked it off with a 58-yard field goal at the buzzer to give his team a narrow, 30-28 victory, but the winning kick was simply the exclamation point on a memorable end-of-game sequence.

In seemingly harmless fashion, the Saints engineered an 8-play, 64-yard field goal drive that gave the home team a 27-21 lead with only 50 seconds remaining. From there, however, Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson had other ideas, taking over without the benefit of timeouts and working magic.

First, Watson connected with DeAndre Hopkins on a 38-yard completion that allowed the star receiver to get out of bounds to preserve time.

On the next play, Watson again delivered, finding Kenny Stills for a 37-yard touchdown to tie the game and set up the potential game-winning extra point.

There was more drama to come, though, with Texans kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missing the extra point… only to be bailed out by a controversial roughing the kicker penalty.

Fairbairn did make his second attempt but, while Watson’s heroics were impressive, Houston’s touchdown drive allowed Drew Brees and company with enough time to try for a comeback. On cue, Brees zoomed his team down the field against a (very) soft zone from the Texans and, with time about to expire, Lutz banged home the game-winner with room to spare.

In a game that saw New Orleans create more than 500 yards of total offense, the end result was probably the right one, especially with how the Saints played in an overall sense. It was a wild swing of emotion for the Texans, though, and viewers of Monday Night Football’s annual double-header were treated to a pleasurable experience that ended with high-class drama.

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