The New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills were both coming off bad losses headed into Thursday night’s matchup. Buffalo started off strong and never took their foot off the gas pedal to defeat the Saints 31-6 on Thanksgiving night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
New Orleans started the game with the ball, but immediately punted after a three-and-out. Bills quarterback Josh Allen went right away to his favorite target Stefon Diggs for 14 yards for the first play first down. The drive ended with an Allen seven yard touchdown pass to his tight end Dawson Knox to give the Bills the 7-0 lead.
Both teams punted on their next possession and ended the first quarter in the process. On the Saints third drive, they found themselves at 4th & 2 at the Buffalo 41 yard line and decided to go for it. Tony Jones Jr was run down for a five yard loss as the Bills regained possession of the ball.
With a short field, Allen completed his pass on third down and short to Gabriel Davis for a pickup of 26 yards. Three plays later, Allen got sacked by Kaden Ellis and settled for a successful 34 yard field goal attempt by Tyler Bass.
After New Orleans punted for the third time in the half, Buffalo started their next drive was offensive holding to back themselves up. On third down, Allen quickly swung the ball to Emmanuel Sanders to a seven yard gain and the first down. Two plays later, Allen’s pass was jumped and intercepted by Bradley Roby to give the Saints the ball back.
The Black and Gold stalled again, but went for a fake punt pass. Blake Gillikin’s pass was overthrown and the Bills had possession of the ball near midfield once more.
Buffalo drove down the field quickly with short passes and quick runs. Allen connected with Sanders again on third down and where in the red zone. Four plays later, Allen’s arm was hit as he threw by Cam Jordan and Kwon Alexander snatched the ball out the air for Allen’s second pick of the game with a few seconds left. The Bills led 10-0 at halftime.
Coming out of the break, Buffalo ran over six minutes in 11 plays. They converted two third downs to extend the drive and finished it off with a touchdown pass to Diggs from five yards out.
The Bills got the ball right back following another Saints three-and-out and wasted no time going down the field. Allen hit Davis for 21 yards on the first play of the drive. Buffalo soon found themselves at 4th & 2 and decided to roll the dice. The gamble paid off as the completed pass to Knox, who went all the way for his second score of the night.
Now that the Bills were up 24-0, Siemian started to sling the ball, hitting Marquez Callaway on 3rd & 9 to keep the drive alive and Lil’Jordan Humphrey for 24 to set up 1st & Goal a few plays later. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Siemian found Nick Vannett in the back of the end zone for the Saints first points. The two-point attempt failed with an overthrow to Humphrey toward the back corner.
Following traded punts, Allen led a quick drive that started with a 28 yard completion to Diggs. On 3rd & 10, Allen threw a screen pass to Matt Breida for 23 yards and a touchdown to give the Bills the 31-6 lead.
Siemian tried to connect with Deonte Harris, but picked off to seal the win for Buffalo. Both teams ran the ball to bleed the final minutes of the game as the Saints fall to 5-6 on the season.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Josh Allen
Allen was efficient on Thanksgiving as he completed 82 percent of his passes. He threw 260 yards and tossed four touchdown passes in the win.
BIG NUMBER: 190
The Saints offense was lackluster and only produced 190 yards the whole evening.
NEXT UP: vs Cowboys; Kickoff, Thursday @ 7:20