Lutz lifts Saints with historic career-long subject aim
NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Saints burned by way of 11 kickers in Sean Payton’s first 11 years as head coach. However they lastly discovered a keeper after they signed Baltimore Ravens castoff Wil Lutz throughout Week 1 of the 2016 season.
He made historical past for them on Monday with a game-winning 58-yard subject aim as time expired within the Saints’ 30-28 victory over the Houston Texans.
Not solely was it a profession lengthy for Lutz, however it was additionally the longest subject aim within the last 10 seconds of a season-opening recreation because the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, in keeping with ESPN Stats & Data analysis.
“All of us felt prefer it was going to occur the minute we heard that ball go off his foot,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees mentioned. “It was a thundering kick, and all of us knew it was going within the uprights.”
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That is not hyperbole — nicely, not completely. The Saints had been so assured in Lutz’s leg that receiver Ted Ginn Jr. appeared to have a good time after he caught a go on the Texans’ 40-yard line with two seconds left. He thought that was shut sufficient for Lutz to win it.
“All of us knew,” Saints working again Alvin Kamara mentioned. “We see him do it in observe. If we get Wil in place, we knew he may hit it.”
Lutz truly missed a 56-yard try broad left earlier than halftime Monday. However he completed the sport Three-for-Four on subject aim makes an attempt. Final season, he made 28 of 30 earlier than the Saints signed him to one of many richest kicker offers within the NFL (5 years, $20.25 million).
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Wil Lutz explains that he was assured within the Saints’ capacity to place him in an excellent place to kick the game-winning subject aim towards the Texans.
The Saints clearly had extra success borrowing a younger kicker from the Ravens than the Minnesota Vikings did (Minnesota traded a fifth-round decide to Baltimore for kicker Kaare Vedvik this summer season, solely to chop him weeks later). However a part of that was as a result of the Saints caught with the undrafted rookie from Georgia State even when he had a pair early wobbles in 2016, together with a missed 61-yard try that might have received his NFL debut.
Lutz introduced up that recreation on Monday when requested how a lot pleasure he takes within the confidence the Saints have in him.
“You realize, it is loopy. It brings again a reminiscence. And the one motive I considered it right this moment is as a result of Brad Seely is [the Texans’ special-teams] coach. He was the Oakland coach my first recreation ever, once I missed a 61-yarder left. And Coach [Payton] stood up right here and informed me that he nonetheless had confidence in me,” Lutz mentioned. “And it kinda offers me chills desirous about that. And right here we’re three years later, so it is fairly wild.”
Like most kickers, Lutz talks on a regular basis about making an attempt to maintain the method the identical for each kick. However he admitted Monday, “I gotta be sincere, that one felt just a little totally different.”
“Clearly, I am assured in what I do. I am assured in my operation. I knew with 37 seconds left that we had been going to have a possibility to get at the very least near subject aim vary. In that state of affairs, there’s not a single kick I might flip down,” Lutz mentioned. “You realize, we discuss concerning the ebbs and flows of a recreation. The primary half did not go my method. And that is what this recreation is all about is bouncing again and having the ability to have your teammates have your again and make a kick like that.
“That is gotta be — that is gotta be a top-one second for me.”