The New Orleans Saints were 4.5-point underdogs at kickoff Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite being at home, and their odds looked to get even worse after starting quarterback Jameis Winston went down with a knee injury and was carted off. Video of that injury certainly didn’t look good. But backup Trevor Siemian, who hadn’t recorded a stat in a regular-season game since 2019 with the Jets, stepped in and played well, completing 16 of 29 passing attempts for 159 yards and a touchdown. And the Saints’ defense really came through, especially with this late pick-six from P.J. Williams against Bucs’ QB Tom Brady (seen above walking to the sidelines afterwards):
P.J. Williams Pick-6! #Saints
📺: #TBvsNO on FOX
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/Nop3BECDEN— NFL (@NFL) October 31, 2021
That was a great play by Williams, and combined with the convert, it put the game out of reach. New Orleans would come away with a 36-29 win and improve to 5-2 on the season, and that was despite the Winston injury (he had completed six of 10 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown before he exited) and despite Brady throwing for 375 yards and four touchdowns (albeit with two interceptions). The Saints may have some issues ahead, especially if the Winston injury is serious (New Orleans head coach Sean Payton described it as “significant” afterwards), but this wound up being a big and unexpected win for them against a NFC South rival.
[NFL on Twitter]
