This has been written many times before: Taysom Hill found a variety of ways to impact a New Orleans Saints victory.
The versatile Saints star, though, outdid himself on Sunday in New Orleans’ 35-14 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Caesars Superdome.
Hill, the converted quarterback who now is listed as a tight end, had 15 offensive touches in the win and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Saints pulled away in the final quarter.
His final statline should make a statistician smile: Hill ran for 138 yards on seven carries, and he added eight receptions for 50 yards. Hill also completed one of two passes for 18 yards.
That totaled out to a career-best 206 yards from scrimmage, and he even returned a kickoff 42 yards.
“When he touches the ball, and when he’s on the field, it affects the game tremendously. And sometimes he doesn’t even have to get the ball,” Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi told reporters, complimenting New Orleans offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak for getting creative in utilizing Hill.
“He ran it, he threw it, he caught it — when you’re defending that and you’re not sure where he’s going to line up, it neutralizes the defense a little bit.”
On the negative side, Hill did have two turnovers — he threw an interception on a long shot downfield and lost a fumble inside the Browns’ 10, squandering a scoring opportunity.
Still, it was a historic performance, as Hill became the first player in NFL history to finish a game with 100 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 50 receiving yards and 10 passing yards, according to CBS.
Hill also became the second player during the Super Bowl era to have eight or more receptions, 130-plus rushing yards and three or more rushing touchdowns in a single game, according to The Associated Press. The other only player to accomplish that was LaDainian Tomlinson, who did it against the Denver Broncos on Dec. 1, 2002.
Hill’s first score — a 10-yard run — came just over five minutes into the game and gave the Saints a 7-0 lead.
In the fourth quarter with New Orleans in a 14-14 game, Hill gave the Saints a seven-point lead with a 33-yard touchdown run, taking the direct snap on a fourth and 1 before bursting through the right side of the line and breaking a tackle on his way to the end zone.
Then, after New Orleans scored again to double its lead to 28-14, Hill put the game on ice by breaking loose for a 75-yard touchdown run for his third score of the game.
Hill averaged 19.7 yards per carry in his first 100-yard rushing game since 2022.
The three rushing touchdowns tied a career high, set against Seattle in October 2022 — coincidentally enough, that was also the last time Hill ran for more than 100 yards in a game.
“It’s unbelievable what he does, what we ask him to do,” New Orleans quarterback Derek Carr said, according to ESPN. “He’s fullback, lead blocking on inside zones ... then he’s playing tight end, then he’s at receiver and he’s playing quarterback. Then he’s throwing the ball 50 yards down the field. Then he’s running with it from quarterback.
“Then I’m turning around and I’m in a no-huddle situation, checking plays to hand him the ball at running back. It’s like, good luck finding someone that can do all those things.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Hill lined up 10 times in the slot, eight times at quarterback, six other times in the backfield, four times out wide and four times tight.
“Klint (Kubiak) called a great game. He created a lot of unique opportunities for me to make plays,” Hill said.
“As you look at what we’re doing offensively, the more things we do that way, the harder it is for us to be defended.”
