It was four years in the making: Taysom Hill has finally thrown his first touchdown pass as an NFL quarterback.
The former BYU signal caller hit Tre’Quan Smith for a 15-yard score with 7:01 left in the first quarter of the New Orleans Saints’ game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in an eventual 21-16 Saints victory.
It’s Hill’s first touchdown pass in 1,471 days, according to the Fox broadcast of the game. He threw a 10-yard touchdown to Mitch Juergens against Utah State on Nov. 26, 2016, in his final college game (he suffered a season-ending injury in the contest).
Hill added a second touchdown pass in the first half, throwing an 11-yard strike to tight end Jared Cook with 1:45 until halftime to give New Orleans a 14-6 lead.
There has been plenty of chatter in the past week about Hill — known more as a utility player in the NFL — not throwing a touchdown pass as he’s filled in for injured Saints starting quarterback Drew Brees. While Hill has run for two touchdowns in each of the past two weeks — in wins over Atlanta and Denver in his first two career NFL starts at QB — he had yet to throw a touchdown pass as a pro.
The last time the Saints went three games without a touchdown pass was in 1999, per the Fox broadcast.
Hill set up the first touchdown with an impressive 43-yard run on the play before the touchdown.
He finished with an up-and-down day, completing 27 of 37 passes for 232 yards and the two touchdowns. Hill also rushed for 83 yards and led a third-quarter touchdown drive, but two fumbles in the fourth quarter — one was recovered by Atlanta, the other went out of bounds and stopped the clock with the Falcons looking for a stop — helped keep the game close until the end.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Hill lost control of the ball as he was hit trying to throw it away with New Orleans facing a second-and-goal at the Atlanta 5. The Falcons recovered, then went on a long touchdown drive to make it a one-score game at 21-16.
Hill then was stripped with less than two minutes to play on a quarterback draw as New Orleans tried to run down the clock, deep in Saints territory — following a Falcons drive that stalled inside the red zone. The ball bounced out of bounds, though, and New Orleans retained possession. While the Saints had to punt, Atlanta couldn’t score the winning touchdown after getting the ball back with 27 seconds to play.
With the win, the Saints clinched a playoff spot — the first NFL team to do so this season — and stayed positioned for the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff race. Hill also improved to 3-0 as a starter. On Sunday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Brees — who was placed on injured reserve three weeks ago with 11 fractured ribs and a collapsed lung — is improving and could play as early as next week, in a Week 14 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.