From the “rags” to the “stars” within 15 minutes: Sunday of Taysom Hill can be summed up like this. After throwing an interception and fumbling in the first two quarters of the game, the 35-year-old from the Saints took center stage in the last quarter of the game, scoring 2 touchdowns which allowed the hosts to get the better of the Cleveland Browns. The 35-14 finale gives interim coach Darren Rizzi his second victory as head coach in the NFL (in as many games) and allows the Saints to go 4-7 in record and keep alive their (few) playoff chances (the Falcons, as far as the NFC is concerned South, they are only 2 wins away, with head-to-head ties tied).
Lato BrownsInstead, what could have been Winston’s Sunday of redemption turned into one defeat which leaves a bad taste in the mouth again. Also because, taking advantage of the very good day of the former Saints QB, the Browns had managed to get to 14-14 after 3 quarters of the match; in the last quarter, however, the defense completely collapsed against the attack led by Derek Carr and above all, as mentioned, was vivisected by Tayson Hill. The eighth defeat of the season, which occurred in the “Big Easy”, leaves questions linked to the future increasingly open, both in terms of the players (and how to “exploit” them between now and January), and in terms of the coaching staff and the management.
From negative protagonist to positive protagonist
In reality, Taysom Hill’s afternoon seemed to start off on the right foot: on the Saints’ first drive, he first threw Austin (after receiving from Carr) for an 18-yard gain and then closed the drive by running undisturbed for a touchdown to make it 7-0 initial. Then the darkness: first he suffered an interception by Ward and then, a couple of drives later and 10 yards from the end zone, he lost the oval in a tackle again with Ward for a bloody fumble which gave possession back to the Browns just before the long interval. They could have been 2 terrible blows for the Saints veteran; instead, as mentioned above, in the last quarter Hill became the undisputed protagonist of the game, first scoring the 21-14 touchdown with a 33-yard run, then definitively closing the game with the 35-14 touchdown after a 33-yard run. 75 yards. And the numbers with which he ended the game were stratospheric: 138 yards gained rushing, 50 yards gained receiving, the 3 touchdowns mentioned above, 18 yards thrown. Numbers that made him enter the history of the NFL, given that no one before November 17, 2024 had managed to put together at least 100 yards gained from rushing, 50 yards gained from receptions, 10 yards gained from his own throws and 3 touchdowns in the same game . The Saints’ second consecutive victory obviously has the signature of Taysom Hill.
Anyway, the entire Saints attack worked very well against the Cleveland Browns defense. Derek Carr completed 21 passes (on 27 attempts), throwing touchdowns to Valdes-Scantling in the second quarter for the momentary 14-6 and Johnson in the last quarter for the momentary 28-14. Having recovered your QB1 almost 100%. after a period of absence due to injury he gave new life to the New Orleans attack, now once again the team admired in the first outings of the season. Whether these last 2 victories were solely the result of the coach change and the momentum that usually follows, we will find out in the next 2-3 weeks.
Nothing new on the Browns front
For the Cleveland Browns, however, it continues to be the middle of the night. Despite a Jameis Winston in great shape, the Browns in New Orleans managed to score only 2 touchdowns (plus a 2-point conversion) against a defense, that of the Saints, which appeared anything but irreproachable. Managing to total almost 400 yards offensively and, despite this, not being able to put points on the board in the final and decisive quarter remains the perfect picture of this season for the Browns. A season of “I could but I can’t”. A season to end as soon as possible and throw into oblivion. Even if your QB throws for 395 yards (with 2 touchdowns); although Jeudy scores 142 yards (with a touchdown), Njoku scores 81 yards, Moore scores 66 yards (with a touchdown) and Chubb gains 50 rushing yards. If you then lose the match, all these individual statistics take their time. Even more so considering that the Browns’ defense, in New Orleans, as anticipated, was disintegrated by the Saints’ attackoffering the ugliest evidence of the last 14 months. The two forced turnovers in the first two quarters of the game were counterbalanced by the embarrassing performance of the last quarter, with Carr doing what he wanted “by air” and Hill raging “by land”, the perfect Swiss army knife to vivisect a department that , excluding Ward, never found answers to stop the hosts.
And so, despite the bye week in between, the Cleveland Browns showed no signs of a possible turnaround. The record now became 2-8. The position in AFC North is always last (2 wins away from the Bengals). The desire and enthusiasm wane game after game. They will be two long months in Ohio from now until the end of the Regular Season. Two months of reflections. Two months in which, by playing in this way, you risk continuing to accumulate many defeats.
