Ultimately I think it was a really well designed play on the part of the Saints.
Thomas sacrifices himself, running into triple coverage across the middle, drawing Talib with him. .
Lewis slips out of the backfield and is wide open in the right flat. If NRC doesn't make a heck of an effort to get over there Lewis possibly walks into the end zone.
The downside is that NRC's last ditch effort was to blast the receiver, and we know how that turned out. If he'd played the ball instead we wouldn't be talking about this.
p.s. I bet my house that Payton runs this play again on Sunday.
