Sean Payton trolls Alvin Kamara as Taysom Hill scores rushing TD

Saints running back Alvin Kamara was already enjoying a historic day against the Vikings on Christmas Day with five rushing touchdowns. Kamara was on the precipice of even more with 4:03 left in the game. Had he scored once again on the run from the Minnesota one-yard line, he would have joined Ernie Nevers in 1929, Dub Jones in 1951, and Gale Sayers in 1965 as the only players with six touchdowns in a game, and the only player in NFL history with six rushing touchdowns in a single game in the modern era — Nevers also did it way back when.

Instead, head coach Sean Payton put backup quarterback/running back/tight end Taysom Hill in the game, and a one-yard Hill touchdown run was the result.

Not to denigrate Hill’s efforts, but what the heck was Payton thinking here? Kamara had been blasting through Minnesota’s stacked boxes all day, he could have set a record that might never be broken, and this is what happens. It will be interesting to see how Payton explains himself in the post-game press conference. Unless Kamara was injured or worn out from all those previous touchdowns, that was a weird call.