“The running back days flashed in my head.”

New Orleans defensive tackle Khalen Saunders briefly kept the Saints in Monday night's game at Arrowhead Stadium with a two-play sequence that sparked an otherwise bitter 26-13 loss in Kansas City.

The Chiefs' former third-round pick smashed Travis Kelce on an inside flip. Then, on the next play – as ESPN reported that Saunders' brother Kameron works as a backup dancer for Taylor Swift, who was in attendance Monday night – the 324-pound DT single-handedly brushed off an interception that bounced off JuJu Smith-Schuster. Saunders rumbled 37 yards out of the end zone.

“I tried to bring it home, man. Take it home. The past few days flashed in my mind,” Saunders said, via the Associated Press. “I thought, ‘That’s 101 (yards). There's still a little way to go.' But I tried to give us real field position.

The interception and return sparked a Saints touchdown drive that pulled New Orleans within three points, 16-13, before the Chiefs ran away late in the fourth quarter.

According to Next Gen Stats, Saunders reached a top speed of 15.79 mph, the third-fastest speed of a ball carrier over 320 pounds since 2016. The two fastest plays by ball carriers over 320 pounds in the last nine seasons were Linval Joseph (18th). .16 mph at 329 pounds) on a 64-yard fumble return TD in Week 5, 2018, and George Fant (16.28 mph at 322 pounds). a 9-yard reception in Week 14, 2018.

Saunders spent the first four years of his career in Kansas City as a rotational center back. He generated 3.5 sacks in 2022 before signing with New Orleans in 2023. Monday marked his first career interception.

The 28-year-old said going up against Patrick Mahomes and Kelce in practice for years helped give him confidence that the move to tight end could come into play before the INT.

“I knew it was coming. I know that little 'tight end flip,'” Saunders said. “Man, I told you, there are certain plays they just can’t make while I’m in the game. And a lot of them are screens and the tight end flip. I was on the scout team for a long time. I have that.” I’ve been competing against Trav and Pat for a long time, I know all the little tricks and stuff like that.

The big man, rumbling the ball high and hard like a 220-pound running back, brought levity and entertainment to an otherwise dismal day for the Saints. Dennis Allen's club did little to slow Mahomes and Co. outside the red zone, and the offense couldn't get on track. The third loss in a row brought the Stinats to 2-3 this season.

Saunders was optimistic after Monday's loss.

“We have to keep going,” Saunders said. “That means nothing other than a guarantee that we won’t be better than 14-3, and I believe that. I've been on teams that lost in Week 10 and haven't lost again. So something like that is always encouraging.”

New Orleans will have to deal with a short week when the 3-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town in Week 6.