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 on Sunday caught a late 72-yard touchdown reception and then celebrated with a phone in a throwback to another famous New Orleans play as the streaking Saints handed the Los Angeles Rams their first loss of the season with a 45-35 victory.
Photo: AFP
“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 New Orleans’ seventh straight win, while Thomas finished with a club-record 211 yards receiving, but what happened after the last of his 12 receptions stole the show in a wild shoot-out between two of the NFL’s best offenses.
Thomas’ long touchdown 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 his stride and ran straight to the goal posts to begin his reprise of Joe Horn’s Sunday night touchdown celebration against the New York 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 Atlanta 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.
The Rams defensive players lambasted themselves for poor tackling at inopportune times, particularly on Kamara, who gained 116 yards from the scrimmage, but coach Sean McVay sought to put the season’s lone loss in a positive light.
“We’re good. We love it. You find out about yourself when you have a little bit of adversity,” McVay said. “I know that everybody in that locker room is going to respond the right way. Sometimes setbacks can be setups for comebacks — and that’s the way we look at it.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care