Though playing with a lead for most of Sunday afternoon's game against New Orleans, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was often frustrated with his offense's lack of execution.
And his team seemed set for almost certain defeat when Saints wide receiver Kenny Stills pulled in this sweet 34-yard TD catch with 3:29 to play to give New Orleans a late lead.
The game appeared even more over when Brady, after the Pats got the ball back, couldn't connect on this 4th-and-6 with 2:46 to play and turned the ball over on downs.
With only two timeouts and the high-powered Saints offense with the ball, hope seemed lost.
Meanwhile, Saints defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was stomping up and down the sideline like an ecstatic extra from Game of Thrones.
And, boy, the game really looked over when Saints kicker Garrett Hartley punched this 39-yard field goal through with 2:24 to play.
Any last-minute comeback would have to happen without slot receiver Danny Amendola, who was knocked out of the game in the third quarter when this blow knocked him out.
And holy moly did this game look TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY OVER when Brady threw an interception on the very next play from scrimmage.
But this sadness did not last long.
That's because the Saints went three-and-out on the next series and punted back to the Pats. Go 70 yards in 1:13 with no timeouts for the win? Sure, OK.
Here's how you do it: First, throw 23 yards to Julian Edelman.
Then go 15 yards to Austin Collie.
Then pretend like you're going to spike the ball the stop the clock and instead go to Aaron Dobson for six more yards.
Then, after a couple of excruciatingly close throws down the middle that almost connect, you throw nine yards to Austin Collie to convert the fourth down and keep the game alive.
After you spike the ball to stop the clock, there's only one more thing to do: Throw to rookie wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins for the winning score.
Congratulations! You (well, Tom Brady) has now sent all of New England into utter euphoria.
The opposing defense will be stunned.
Saints head coach Sean Payton will manage to keep it together somehow.
Rob Ryan NOT SO MUCH. His face said it all for Saints fans everywhere — roughly translated to GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH.
Ryan's reaction is best reflected by the game's Win Probability Chart, which was predictably bonkers.
Here's the call from 98.5 The Sports Hub:
And this pretty much summed up the consensus on Twitter.
That was an all-time "how the f--k did we just lose that game?" for the Saints.
Adam Jacobi
@Adam_Jacobi
That was an all-time "how the f--k did we just lose that game?" for the Saints.
Here's how the final, game-winning play went down at Gillette Stadium:
After the game, Tom Brady celebrated by burning all of our retinas — but when you do what he just did, you get to dress however you damn well please.
Tom Brady dressed as a member of Erasure this evening.
Drew Magary
@drewmagary
Tom Brady dressed as a member of Erasure this evening.
