When John Madden realized that Reggie Bush was about to break loose he gives it a WOOOPS! LOL. From the December 10, 2006 #Saints vs Cowboys game. #RIPJohnMadden pic.twitter.com/61JRlYS7ei
— New Orleans Saints History (@SaintsHistory) December 30, 2021
We’ve got 61 days left until the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2024 regular season, which makes Reggie Bush’s 61-yard touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys our Saints Play of the Day.
This was a game-breaker. The Saints were already up 21-10 early in the third quarter, having made the trip to old Texas Stadium (where the Cowboys played from 1971 to 2008, until they moved into Jerry Jones’ shiny new AT&T Stadium). But Sean Payton was determined to keep pouring it on his mentor Bill Parcells. Each team hit the field with an 8-4 record and Payton intended on leaving no doubt about which was the better squad.
So he dialed up a screen play for Bush, the rookie Heisman Trophy winner who had excited all of Louisiana. Drew Brees looked left and looped a pass to Bush in the flat. With several blockers in front of him it was all too easy for Bush to cut through the Cowboys defense and extend New Orleans’ lead.
It’s a classic game now (watch the broadcast sometime if you can find it; John Madden and Al Michaels were great in prime time), but for many NFL fans this was the moment when the Saints truly arrived and proved they were more than a feel-good story in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Cowboys were favored by a touchdown and the over/under was set at 48 points, but the Saints wound up winning it 42-17, stunning the league in the process. Brees threw five touchdown passes and was only sacked once, while Bush totaled 162 scrimmage yards off of just a dozen touches. How’s that for a “welcome to the NFL” moment?
