The New Orleans Saints got back in the win column Sunday, taking down the Seattle Seahawks 39-32. The New Orleans offense found its footing, scoring the most points since the Christmas day game in 2020 against the Vikings (the Saints scored 52 then). And it was a familiar face leading the way for New Orleans.
“Just an unbelievable effort from Taysom Hill,” Mike Detillier told WWL's Tommy Tucker.
Hill rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries, threw a 22 yard touchdown pass, and even returned three kickoffs for 69 yards. Of his four scores, three either tied the game or gave the Saints the lead. Hill was undoubtedly the main driver of the Saints offensive effort, but there were a number of players who had good games.
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“Cam Jordan, Peter Werner on the defensive side of the football,” Detillier said. “Alvin Kamara also, a terrific football game. I thought Andy Dalton was solid all around the board.”
Werner once again racked up the tackles, with 7 on the day to bring his season total to 47 (Demario Davis is second on the team with 28); he also had a forced fumble that David Onyemata recovered. Jordan, meanwhile, may have only had 3 tackles; but he had 2 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks with another 2 quarterback hurries for good measure.
Dalton put together another solid, if unspectacular, performance as the Saints starting quarterback. He completed 66.7% of his passes for 187 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Kamara unsurprisingly was an effective weapon once again, accounting for 194 yards from scrimmage (103 rushing, 91 receiving) on 29 touches. It was just what New Orleans needed as the defense was proving susceptible to big plays.
“When you give up six plays of 30 yards or more, that's not real good,” Detillier said. “You're still turning the ball over. But you walked out with the W, and that's all you're concerned about. And you'll try to fix the negative stuff.”
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith hit Tyler Lockett for two 30+ yard touchdowns and D.K. Metcalf for another while Kenneth Walker III gashed the Saints for a 69 yard touchdown to give Seattle a late lead. On the whole, Seattle averaged 8.1 yards per play.
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“This defense has not played nearly as well as all of us thought they would,” Detillier said. “The talent is there. But they have just not played well. They're out of position sometimes. It's not a good sign. Can this team sort of bounce back from those big plays?
“Because you're putting your offense right back on the field,” Detillier went on. “It's pressure points you're touching every time. And that's a little bit different than what we saw early in the year when the defense played well and the offense was struggling.”
Still, as Detillier said, the Saints got the victory and improved to 2-3 instead of falling to 1-4. The win also moved New Orleans into second place in the NFC South, behind the 3-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Saints will try to keep it up with a home game against the Cincinnati Bengals, who are coming off a last second loss to the Baltimore Ravens.