Chris Ivory’s 56-yard touchdown run against the Atlanta Falcons back in 2012 is the New Orleans Saints Play of the Day, which you can watch here. The former Saints running back only appeared in 24 games with New Orleans before continuing his career with the New York Jets (46 games), Jacksonville Jaguars (25), and Buffalo Bills (13), but he certainly made an impact on the black and gold.
The Saints needed this score in the worst way. They were sloppy to start the game, having allowed 10 unanswered points in the first quarter after their defense was caught flatfooted and Drew Brees threw an interception on his first play from scrimmage. Ivory took the handoff in the backfield and looped around the formation to get an edge on the Falcons defense, threaded the needle down the sideline, and then burst into the Atlanta secondary.
And the scoring didn’t stop there. Jimmy Graham and Tony Gonzalez traded touchdown catches (Marques Colston got in on the fun, too) until the Saints pulled ahead with a 31-27 lead late in regulation. They stopped two Atlanta drives on fourth down and won the day, but it was a near thing, and it wouldn’t have happened if Ivory hadn’t kicked down the door early on.
