Devery Henderson's 81-yard catch is the Saints Play of the Day

Our countdown to the start of the New Orleans Saints' 2025 season is on Day 81, which makes this 81-yard reception by Devery Henderson our pick for the Saints Play of the Day. With the Saints shorthanded on offense back in 2008 -- for this game, both Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey were unavailable due to injuries -- it took a great effort from guys like Henderson, Lance Moore, and Robert Meachem to keep the Saints offense on schedule.

And on this play, which you can see here, Henderson almost went the distance. Drew Brees found him open about 30 yards downfield and dropped the ball out where Henderson could grab it and where the San Francisco 49ers defenders behind him could only watch. Henderson did the rest, racing downfield and nearly scoring, only getting caught once he'd reached the San Francisco 7-yard line.

Frustratingly, the Saints couldn't get out of their own way, and they lost a fumble while trying to for it on fourth down from the 1-yard line. But it didn't really matter. New Orleans had already built a 28-9 lead over the visitors to this point in the ballgame, late in the fourth quarter, and even a gutsy scoring drive from former Saints quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan (now leading the 49ers) couldn't make much of a difference.

The Saints won the day, 31-17, and they continued to build momentum ahead of a fateful 2009 campaign. This was a big year for Henderson. The team's former 2004 second-round pick needed some time to find his footing, but he developed into one of the league's better deep threats. He led the NFL in yards per catch in 2006 (23.3) and again in 2008 (24.8), with his 81-yard grab being his second-longest play of the year. He ended up being a critical piece of that Super Bowl-winning team the next year, too.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Devery Henderson's 81-yard catch is the Saints Play of the Day