By John DeShazier
New Orleans Saints
METARIE, La — Amid the mass of behemoth football players sweating and straining and jostling at the snap, Payton Turner estimated he had enough time to move about an inch.
Fortunately for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, it was the right inch.
Turner blocked Younghoe Koo’s 63-yard field-goal attempt as time expired, preserving New Orleans’ 27-26 victory over Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Turner’s block preserved the largest fourth-quarter comeback in franchise history (the Saints trailed 26-10 with 12:41 left after Koo’s 27-yard field goal) and gave the second-year defensive end the biggest play of his brief career.
“I just got off the ball and got my hand up,” Turner said Monday. “You got to move probably like an inch by the time you see the ball get kicked. So I was in the right spot at the right time.”
Turner said special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi dialed up the block once Atlanta reached field goal range and after that, he was the player that managed to get a full palm on the attempt.