"Sickest" Play of the Week: The Jenksgiving Day Miracle

I have to go with Jenkins’ play as being more impressive – he had to run down WIlliams from behind after losing his footing. Meachem did run his strip back for a TD, and in that sense his might be a “bigger” play. But with no one in front of him at that point, I can’t say it’s more impressive.

Ask me after the Superbowl.

Only because it seemed to take more effort.
But, it’s very hard to chose. The Meacharound was just as unlikely and he ran in it in for score. And then there’s Meachem playing defense right up to running it in like a defensive back. Jenkins was playing within his job description.

Yeah, looks like I’m talking myself out of the Jenkins vote, but I still lean toward thinking Jenkins “do or die” moment of determination edges Meachem just a bit.

Jenkins simply chased a guy and caused a fumble while he wasn’t looking. That happens every week in the NFL. The Meachem play involved a tremendous interception, followed by a pursuit, a ball-scrum strip (While the Redskins player saw him coming thank you very much, a lot more difficult than a blind side strip) and subsequent return for a TD. The early vote is simply the usual of voting for something bright shiny and new. The Meachem play was amazing on many points….the Jenkins simply a play that happens usually once a weekend. The play was miraculous in that it allowed us to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Yet the play itself, was simply a good hustle play.

For one reason really, every win this season from here on out is a must for playoff hopes. The NFC seems like its going to be a tight race down the stretch. If that play doesn’t happen then the Cowboys would have points whether it be 3 OR 7 which would have made it much more difficult for the Saints to pull out the win. A loss in the tight NFC would have been more costly for the Saints at this point than a loss to Washington last year. Both were tremendous heads up plays by both players and will both go down in Saints history as unforgettable but Jenkins’s has to be more important impact wise for reasons stated above.

But, I have to lean towards Jenkins’ play because it was on national TV, on Thanksgiving, and against the hated Cowboys. We also needed that win this year more than we needed that win in Washington last year. We were playing to keep our undefeated season going last season and now we’re fighting for a playoff spot. Both games swung on those two great plays by Meachem and Jenkins, but the “Jenksgiving Day Miracle” seems more significant right now.

Meachem, every time. He was in front of the interception, so didn’t chase him down, but still. There was his initial route, his awareness of the INT, getting into position and evading a block from a Redskin, then stripping the ball, maintaining possession and returning it 40+ yards.

WR’s are stripped every week, defensive players are chased down and have interceptions knocked out every now and then, but how often does a WR takeaway an interception and return it for a touchdown?

Definitely the Meachem play. In all honesty, Jenkins should have made a play on Williams long before he did. Patrick Robinson slipped in coverage, making Williams Jenkins’s responsibility. He was basically attempting to compensate for his own poor angle of pursuit. Meachem had no such responsibility. His hustle on that play was truly above and beyond. Not to mention the laissez-faire approach to turnovers, in general. They’re inherently spirit-deflating plays, far moreso than a completed third down conversion, something that typically happens throughout the course of a game. That Meachem had the wherewithal to stick with the play and regain possession is impressive in and of itself, but to turn that strip into direct points — this by a player who ISN’T subjected to Gregg Williams’s soapbox narratives each day in practice — is simply phenomenal. That’s based on which was more impressive. In terms of importance, I’d have to go with Jenkins’s strip. Even with Meachem’s TD, the Saints still needed a missed chip shot by Suisham and a strip by Chris McAlister to win that game. Even if Jenkins makes up for Robinson’s flub with a nice open field tackle, without the strip, you’re talking about a Pisarcik type miracle needed in order to avoid the loss. Obviously neither guaranteed a win. Especially when Sean Payton continues to make Les Miles look like the Dalai Lama of clock management inside of two minutes.

Strip a defender who just picked off our QB plus run it back for a TD. Simple question and answer in my book.

It was a beautiful play. Most other top notch receivers wouldn’t have even tried what he did, much less try to tackle the guy.

Meachem’s was the more impressive just comparing play versus play. But Jenkins may have been more important to the outcome of the game.

Had Meachem not stripped the ball and returned it for a TD, we still had an entire second half to win the game. Had Jenkins not made his play, the odds of us having won that game would have been very, very slim at best.

Both were outstanding plays and neither one makes the other any less impressive.

It was the strip that not only saved the game, but saved the No.1 seed as well. Jenkins strip was Epic as well. Saved from being a 2 game behind Atl. So they were both great in my book. But Meachem has a little edge on it. That was the play of the decade!

Okay, maybe not. I give Meachem a slight edge because it was so heads up. You don’t expect a receiver to make a play like that. A defensive back – sure, but a receiver? Tremendous awareness my Meachem.

Because It happened right in front of us at fed-ex. It’s one of those: You Had To Be There. Of course both plays were great, and hopefully, both plays were Super…

I liked both plays, but the Meachem play was better just because of the end result of that play. Jenkins’ was more important because of the plays afterward and what it led to, VICTORY over da boyz.

…for selfish reasons. I work with a die hard cowgirls fan and I’ve had to listen to him run his damn mouth since Dec 19th last year. Plus we made a little wager earlier in the season. So thank u, Malcom for my steak dinner and a year of bragging rights.