With Drew Brees out, Sean Payton did what any smart person would do: lean on his most dynamic weapon, Alvin Kamara.
In the Saints' impressive 33-27 road win in Seattle, the running back toted the rock 16 times for 69 yards with a touchdown and was targeted 10 times, catching nine passes for 92 yards and another TD. Of the Saints' 51 offensive plays, Kamara saw the ball go his way 26 times.
Getting the ball in his best player's hands 50 percent of the time was smart business by Payton. The dual-threat didn't disappoint. Kamara made Seahawks defenders look silly trying to tackle air, stopping and starting on a dime, juking, dodging, ducking, dip, diving, proving to be nearly untackleable.
"He's like a human joystick," quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said, via NOLA.com. "You give him the ball, he's spinning, he's juking, he's bouncing off of guys."
Human joystick, indeed.
With Brees out, Bridgewater had a workmanlike performance completing 70 percent of his 27 attempts for 177 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was Bridgewater's first win as a starter since Week 15, 2015 -- 1,359 days ago.
"From the time I was injured, up until now, just thinking about all the ones who believed in me, being back on this stage," Bridgewater said.
"... All my emotions were running at the same time."
It was good to see Bridgewater back in the win column, but this game was about Payton feeding his most dangerous weapon, Kamara. The running back was the Saints' offense for long stretches of the contest.
Sunday marked the fourth game in Kamara's career with 150-plus scrimmage yards and two-plus TDs. The Saints are 3-1 in such games.
Not every week will New Orleans have a punt return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery for a score to supplement the offense. But the Saints will have Kamara.
As long as Brees is out, expect Payton to make sure his biggest weapon touches the ball plenty. It's only logical.
