Saints win shootout with Rams
When the time came to dial up a big play for Michael Thomas, the Saints’ leading receiver answered the call.
He even had a flip phone planted in the padding of each goal post, just in case.
Thomas had a late 72-yard touchdown catch, then celebrated with a cellphone in a throwback to another famous play in Saints lore, and the streaking hosts handed the Rams their first loss of the season with a 4535 victory Sunday.
“I loved the celebration myself, and I think it was the perfect time when I did it,” Thomas said. “We love our fans, and we always want to bring them back great memories.”
Drew Brees passed for 346 yards and four touchdowns in the Saints’ seventh consecutive victory, and Thomas finished with a club-record 211 yards receiving. But what happened after the last of his 12 catches stole the show in a wild shootout between two of the NFL’s best offenses.
Thomas’ long TD came on a pivotal third-down play with about four minutes left. The Rams (8-1) seemed to expect the Saints (7-1) to run a play closer to the first-down marker and double-teamed dynamic running back Alvin Kamara.
Brees recalled thinking, “Kamara’s doubled, Mike’s singled, Mike’s by him, here we go.”
Thomas ran free behind Marcus Peters, caught Brees’ long throw virtually in stride and ran straight to the goal post to begin his reprise of Joe Horn’s Sunday night TD celebration against the Giants in 2003.
“I paid a tribute to him, tried to get the crowd going a little bit more, set the tone, have fun out there, giving people a show,” said Thomas, who eclipsed Wes Chandler’s club record of 205 yards receiving against the Falcons in 1979.
“You got to have fun. All these guys just catching touchdowns and celebrating with each other, having fun, getting the crowd involved. I felt like I had an opportunity to make it happen.”
Like Horn, Thomas was penalized, but the Rams never threatened again.
Texans 19, Broncos 17
Demaryius Thomas won his homecoming five days after his trade from Denver to Houston when the Broncos’ Brandon McManus missed a 51-yard field goal as time expired. McManus also missed a 62-yarder in the first half that gave the Texans great field position for a field goal. Thomas caught three passes for 61 yards. Houston took its sixth consecutive victory and the Broncos lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Chargers 25, Seahawks 17
Philip Rivers made his 200th consecutive start and kept the visitors from Los Angeles surging at the midpoint of the season, surviving a late rally by Seattle’s Russell Wilson. Rivers threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, Melvin Gordon added 113 yards rushing and the Chargers won their fifth in a row.
Steelers 23, Ravens 16
James Conner rushed for 107 yards and caught a scoring pass for visiting Pittsburgh, which has won four in row since falling to Baltimore at home. Ben Roethlisberger went 28-for-47 for 270 yards. His one-yard run put the Steelers up 20-6 in the third quarter.
Falcons 38, Redskins 14
Julio Jones ended his 12-game touchdown drought, Matt Ryan threw for 350 yards and four scores and Atlanta flexed its offensive muscles with a blowout of host Washington that extended its winning streak to three.