Week 11 of the 2022 season was far from the first time Taysom Hill ran roughshod through an opposing defensive line, and his stats didn't exactly jump off the page.
But there was definitely something worth noting: His heavy involvement was very much the plan going in, not a product of success early in the game.
"Our group just wants to win, and they'll do whatever they have to do to try to win," Saints head coach Dennis Allen said, "and that was something that we felt gave us a good chance this week, and our guys went out and executed it.
Still, there was so much Taysom install throughout the week that Allen joked he could sense some frustration from starting QB Andy Dalton with how often he was getting pulled from under center. The gameplan dedication was easy to spot. In previous weeks, getting stopped on third-and-short on the opening possession might have held the Saints away from heavy Taysom involvement. Not so this week.
Including 3 handoffs and 1 sack, Taysom lined up at quarterback 16 times against the Rams. There was one scoring drive that Hill logged four QB snaps to Dalton's three. For perspective, in the Week 5 win over the Seahawks that saw Taysom account for 4 touchdowns, he only lined up at QB 10 times. Against the Steelers he logged just 19 offensive snaps, total. Against the Ravens that was 17.
Against the Rams, Hill finished with 9 carries for 51 yards, 1 completion for 14 yards and 1 catch for 8 yards.
Both Dalton and Hill were quick to downplay any such frustration based on constant role-switching throughout the week.
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"I'm never upset with the number of snaps that Taysom takes because I know how successful we've been able to be with it and how many positive plays come from it. ... Taysom is a unique asset for us," Dalton said. "And, you know, a lot of teams have really good players. We happen to have one that can be all over the field and actually play quarterback, too. And so I think that's our advantage."
Even if there was any mild annoyance bubbling under the surface for Dalton, it's likely to be easily squashed by the fact that the veteran QB put out his most complete game of the season in the process. The Saints' QB1 finished the game 21-of-25 for 260 yards and three TDs. It was a timely performance as well, coming after the starting job was reassessed by the coaching staff after a pair of suspect games. Allen said on Wednesday that the team would stick with Dalton, and he responded in a much-needed win.
Where things go from here is anyone's guess. The Saints are now 4-7 and still well within reach of the NFC South leading Bucs at 5-5. They'll ship out to the west coast for a showdown with the San Francisco 49ers, who will be on a short week after a Monday Night Football game this week.
Will the Taysom-Andy split offense follow them there? Logic dictates it should, but nothing about this season has been logical. Either way, the season is alive for one more week. Taysom and Andy have a running joke where they tell each other "you can go ahead and take this play off." As long as things are working the way they were in Week 11, there are no bad jokes … or ideas.
"I'm Andy's biggest fan and I feel like he's he's my biggest fan, too," Hill said. "You know, and at the end of the day the end goal is the same. So it doesn't matter how we get there as long as we're winning football games."
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