SEATTLE — Alvin Kamara twisted, turned, eluded and powered his way around and through Seattle defenders as the Drew Brees-less Saints defeated the Seahawks 33-27 Sunday.
The Saints also had a punt return for a score and a forced fumble returned for another touchdown.
"I thought we did a lot of things well," said head coach Sean Payton. "A good win against a good team for us."
Seattle scored a meaningless touchdown on the game's final play to make the game closer than it appeared.
The Saints won the game despite being outgained 515 to 265 on offense.
Brees, who was not with the team in Seattle, was an interested spectator on TV and tweeted his approval from afar: "So proud of our TEAM! Who Dat baby!"
Kamara carried 16 times for 69 yards and a touchdown and caught nine passes for 82 yards and another touchdown in the win.
Bridgewater, who usually admires Kamara's work from the sideline, had an up-close view this time and came away impressed.
"He's like a human joystick," he said with a smile. "You give him the ball, he's spinning, he's juking, he's bouncing off of guys. As a quarterback, when you can throw him the ball and you just watch the play happen, this guy, he's a bad man."
"I said all week Teddy is a leader," Kamara said of Bridgewater. "He had composure. He had poise and we got it done."
The first time the Saints touched the ball they scored a touchdown without running a play. Deonte Harris fielded a punt and returned it 53 yards for a score to put the Saints up 7-0.
After Seattle tied the game at 7-7, the Saints got a fumble return for a touchdown. Eli Apple chased down a Seahawk running back and knocked the ball out. It was picked up by Von Bell and returned for a score. Wil Lutz missed the extra point and it was 13-7.
The touchdown was eerily reminiscent of one a week ago that didn’t count when Cam Jordan returned a fumble for a score that would have put the Saints up 10-3 in Los Angeles, but it was whistled dead.
Teddy Bridgewater overcame several holes he was put in by offensive penalties that marred the team’s first two offensive possessions to post a steady, if unspectacular line of 19 completions in 27 attempts for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
Photos: New Orleans Saints stun Seattle Seahawks at home
"Teddy’s going to be just fine," said Payton. "If we can surround him with some good performances like we did today, we’ll be just fine."
His longest completion was a dump pass to Kamara that was taken 29 yards for a touchdown on a play where Kamara broke several tackles and eluded other would-be tacklers in what was undoubtedly the play of the game.
The Saints defense also stepped up, stopping the run game by the Seahawks with the exception of a couple of Russell Wilson scrambles. When Seattle lined up and ran it directly, they were mostly unsuccessful.
The win was the first home loss for Seattle in September in the Pete Carroll era and dropped the Seahawks to 2-1 on the year.
FIRST WIN
Payton won for the first time in his career without Brees as his quarterback. It was a limited sample size of just three previous games and a stat Payton joked as being "silly" afterward.
"That sells papers. I got it," Payton cracked.
NO PRESSURE
Bridgewater was helped by Seattle's pass rush being unable to create consistent pressure. The debut of Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah playing together on the defensive line yielded minimal results. Seattle had zero sacks, only two quarterback hits. While Bridgewater got rid of the ball quickly, he was comfortable in the pocket.
UP NEXT
New Orleans returns home after two weeks on the road and faces Dallas next Sunday.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.