The New Orleans Saints defeated the Cleveland Browns 35-14 on Sunday afternoon inside the Caesars Superdome. The game comes on the day where the Saints added offensive guard Jahri Evans into their ring of honor.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The return of Jameis Winston to the Superdome began with an offensive possession and a fourth and one at midfield. Winston handed to Nick Chubb, who was stuffed by the Saints defense, giving New Orleans good field position for their first possession.
The Saints would cash in on that field position. An effective six play, 49 yard drive ended with a Taysom Hill 10-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 in favor of New Orleans.
A couple of drives later, the Browns would answer. An 89 yard touchdown strike from Winston to Jerry Jeudy put the Browns on the board. They went for two and were unsuccessful, meaning the Saints held a 7-6 lead.
The Saints answered that big play with one of their own. Carr found Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 71-yard touchdown to extend the lead. That made it 14-6, and the score remained that way after a missed field goal by Cleveland.
New Orleans had a chance to extend the lead before halftime, but a Hill fumble gave it back to Cleveland. They got into a field goal range, but Dustin Hopkins missed another. He was given a second chance because of a penalty, but missed a chip shot, keeping the halftime score at 14-6.
Early in the second half, Cleveland found their way back into this game. An impressive eight play, 92 yard drive ended with a 30-yard touchdown strike from Winston to Elijah Moore. The two-point conversion was good, tying things at 14.
It took all the way into the fourth quarter, but the Saints did retake the lead. A 4th and 1 play saw Hill break free for a 33-yard touchdown run, making it 21-14.
The Saints got a big spark on a long punt return from Dante Pettis. It was first ruled a touchdown, but then changed due to the fact that he stepped out at the 35-yard line. That was no problem for the offense, as they went six plays and 35 yards, capped by a Carr to Juwan Johnson touchdown pass. That gave the Saints a 28-14 lead.
The exclamation point on this game was another Taysom run. This one was a 75-yard touchdown run, making it 35-14 Saints and putting the game out of reach.
BIG NUMBER: 66
The Saints defense held the Browns’ physical running game to just 66 yards on Sunday. That forced them to be more one-dimensional, relying on the passing game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Taysom Hill
Taysom wasn’t perfect in this game. He threw an interception and lost a fumble. However, he more than made up for it. He ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns, caught eight passes for 50 yards, and had 18 yards passing. He tallied over 200 all-purpose yards in the contest.
UP NEXT: The Saints will enjoy a bye next week before returning to action on Sunday, December 1st inside the Caesars Superdome when they play host to the Los Angeles Rams at 3:05 PM.