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4 Takeaways: Taysom Hill saves the day

Doug Mouton has the four takeaways from the Saints' win over the Seahawks.

NEW ORLEANS — Do like Taysom Hill and enjoy this one.

It was certainly imperfect. Two turnovers mean the Saints still rank first in giveaways in the NFL with 13, and they're last in turnover margin at -8.

And still way too many penalties. They're now third in number of penalties and second in penalty yards against.

But on this Sunday, they overcame all that with a formula that involved the football equivalent of punching the Seahawks in the face and they did it very effectively.

Three of our four takeaways from this win are variations on the same theme.

#4: Playcalling

I criticized the playcalling earlier this season, but on Sunday, it was on point.

The Saints recognized they had an advantage up front, and they played to it.

Before this game, the Saints had run the ball 36% of the time. 

But against the Seahawks, they ran it 65% of the time.

Nobody in the NFL runs it 65% of the time, but the two big pass plays - the 55-yard screen to Alvin Kamara and the 22-yard touchdown to Adam Trautman were both directly set up by the run.

Pete Carmichael had the Seahawks on their heels all game. 

The Saints were giving up more than three sacks a game over the first four games, but Andy Dalton only got sacked once on Sunday.

And my favorite - on Taysom Hill's 60-yard game-winning touchdown, the Saints played seven offensive linemen, three tight ends...and Taysom Hill.

There was a 0% percent chance they were going to pass. Seattle knew it, and couldn't stop it.

Pete Carmichael's plan was excellent Sunday.

#3: Big boy football

At number three...same theme.

Big boy football is what this team is built to play.

In 79 NFL games this season, 48 rushes by one team is the second most in a game by anyone. Unbeaten Philadelphia ran it 50 times last week in a win.

235 rushing yards is the fifth most in a game by any team this season.

The Saints' physicality wore down the Seahawks. After pounding on them for three quarters, the Saints put the game away with 101 rushing yards in the fourth quarter alone.

#2: Issues in the backend

At number two, the clunker.

The Saints had some serious backend problems Sunday. Seattle had four touchdowns of 35 yards or more. On the two to Tyler Lockett, there was no safety help to be sound.

I'll give credit to our Saints analyst Nick Underhill on this one because he's the first person to say this: the Saints are missing Marcus Williams in a big way.

Williams was the Saints' free safety eraser for five years. The Ravens gave him $70 million.

Without him, the saints have now given up nine pass plays of 30 yards or more this season.

And this week, without Marcus Maye and PJ Williams, they gave up four of those. This can't keep up, and Marcus Maye has to help fix that.

#1: Taysom Hill's heroics

At number one, let's take a minute to appreciate what a ridiculous game this was for Taysom Hill.

Hill didn't play against Carolina. In the two games he played the least, the Saints had their worst offensive efforts by far.

But let's break down just what he's done when playing quarterback.

Across the five games, that's 24 snaps.

On those plays, he's handed off twice, thrown one highly successful pass, and run it himself 21 times. 

On those 21 carries, he's averaging a crazy 10.9 yards a carry.

Here's why it's crazy. When he gets the snape, he runs 88% of the time. The other team knows that, and they just can't stop it.

He's actually carried carried five times on third down and picked up four first downs. 80% is very good.

In 21 carries, he has five touchdowns and eight first downs.

Dennis Allen said that Seattle's defensive front presented them with the opportunity to run a lot, so maybe he won't get 11 snaps at quarterback going forward. 

But he should definitely be getting more because this is working in a ridiculous way.

And that's my four takeaways from the wild win over Seattle.


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