The lingering question for the New Orleans Saints before their preseason game with Jacksonville was who would the starting quarterback be? The answer came swiftly and decisively from Jameis Winston, who was scintillating from his first snap to his last. It would not be a surprise to ascertain Winston announced because of the starter in the week. He certainly earned it.
With things settled, it enables Sean Payton to start his scheming to return Hill to his wild card/joker role, lining him up at the end, as a good receiver, and even at back. Of course, Hill can still take some snaps at quarterback, as he has done a previous couple of years. It was a pleasant performance overall by the first players before the foremost fans we’ve seen in two years in what’s now Caesars Superdome. Of course, there have been many empty seats, being a preseason game and within the midst of an epidemic.
Here is my Quick Takes on the 23-21 convert Jacksonville: **Cam Jordan led the pre-game “Who Dat” chant with the fans, whose sound was a touch muffled by the masks they were wearing. **Ty Montgomery handled the opening kickoff return. **Saints starters were on the sector on offense, aside from Tony Jones starting at back . **Jameis Winston quickly asserted himself on the opening drive, taking the Saints 72 yards in six plays, taking 2:43 off the clock.
**Winston connected with Marquez Callaway on a 43-yard touchdown skip two defenders. Callaway made the catch despite being blatant pass interference. it had been impressive on both ends because the Saints grabbed an early 7-0 lead with 12:17 to play within the opening quarter. Shy Tuttle and Jalen Dalton opened at the defensive tackle spots. All other starters were on the sector defensively. **The Saints forced a three-and-out and got good field position but a pair of false start penalties, one each on Erik McCoy and Ryan Ramczyk, killed the drive and New Orleans had to punt. **Adam Trautman left with an injury and was carted off while Brian Poole limped off within the half-moon.
**Winston then engineered another touchdown drive, going 57 yards in six plays, taking 3:06 to try to do so with Winston hitting Callaway with an ideal dime on a 30-yard touchdown pass against tight coverage by Shaquill Griffin. it had been simply an ideal throw. Taysom Hill took over at quarterback with second-team players on the ultimate series of the primary quarter and he was sacked by Jihad Ward on third right down to force a punt.
**The next series resulted in another three-and-out with Hill again being sacked on third down after holding the ball a touch too long. **Blake Gillikin blasted a 63-yard punt early within the second quarter, his second blast in as many games. it’s easy to ascertain why the Saints protected him last year with Thomas Morstead still on the roster. **Jacksonville finally mounted a drive to supply points, going 12 plays, 57 yards in 5:43 with Josh Lambo connecting on a 34-yard field goal to form it 14-3 with six minutes to play within the half.
**Hill finally got it going with a pair of 25-yard completions to Lil’Jordan Humphrey on subsequent possession but on a fourth-and-three from the Jacksonville 34-yard line, he held the ball too long, a uniform issue, and threw incomplete, killing the drive. Jalen Dalton, who is battling for a roster spot and searching good to urge a spot, had a key sack of Trevor Lawrence to stall an honest Jacksonville drive late within the half. Lambo came on and missed a 43-yard field goal, hitting the proper upright, with 36 seconds left within the half.
**Hill got his team points before the half, driving the Saints 33 yards in 10 plays, taking just 36 seconds with Rosas banging home a 52-yard field goal as time expired within the half to form it 17-3 at the half. In his regular-season career, Rosas is 10-of-14 from 50 yards and beyond, a true strength. **New Orleans amassed 225 yards of offense within the half, 195 of these passing. **Each team had 34 offensive snaps within the half. **Jacksonville had an extended drive to start out the last half but the Saints held. **Hill remained within the game but couldn’t get anything happening the primary possession of the last half.
**Then, Hill engineered an honest drive leading to a score, going 76 yards in eight plays, taking 4:07 off the clock with Hill connecting with Humphrey on a 14-yard touchdown pass to form it 23-3 with 1:27 to play within the third quarter. **Unfortunately, Rosas missed the additional point. **It was Humphrey’s second touchdown reception in as many games. together with his size, he has the power to be a weapon within the red zone. **Hill finished 11-of-20 for 138 yards and a touchdown. Interestingly, Hill has not run the ball once in two games, a strength of his game.
**Jacksonville had a pleasant drive that reached the New Orleans one-yard line but Wynton McManis came up with an interception. McManis later had an enormous hit also. C.J. Beathard then guided the Jaguars to a touchdown, driving 74 yards in seven plays, taking 1:35 off the clock with Beathard hitting Jeff’s catch on a three-yard touchdown pass to form it 23-13 with 5:19 to play within the game. **A pair of secondary players, Eric Burrell and Bryan Mills each got hurt within the final quarter.
**Beathard then hit a good open Collin Johnson on a 24-yard touchdown pass to form it 23-19 with 2:46 to play. In the play, Natrell Jamerson was looking within the backfield, stopped running, which left Johnson wide open. Then, Beathard hit Nathan Cottrell for the two-point conversion to form it 23-21. The drive covered 50 yards in seven plays, taking 1:32 off the clock. **Trevor Siemian played the fourth quarter for brand spanking new Orleans, going 4-for-8 for 59 yards. Siemian hit Dwayne Washington on a 33-yard pass to place the sport away with two minutes left.
**David Onyemata came on within the fourth quarter to require snaps defensively. The stars were clear on tonight in Winston and Callaway, who caught five passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Winston got the ball down the sector, something the Saints have lacked recently, certainly last year. Once again, Marcus Davenport was excellent, as was Gardner-Johnson. Kpassagnon made his presence felt. Ken Crawley played well, as did Dalton. once more, Paulson Adebo distinguished himself well. Carl Granderson picked up a private foul within the last half but otherwise, he was a terror, playing alright.
The big negative was seeing Trautman leave on a cart. The other big positive, apart from Winston, was the Saints went from six turnovers to none and from 10 penalties to 6, compared to the preseason opener against Baltimore. The final preseason game is Saturday night, reception against Arizona. it’s doubtful that we’ll see much of starters, if at all, within the game.
