NEW ORLEANS — Taysom Hill capped a 138-yard, three-touchdown performance on the ground with a 75-yard scoring run, and the New Orleans Saints improved to 2-0 under interim coach Darren Rizzi with a 35-14 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Hill's two other touchdowns went for 10 and 33 yards — the second on fourth and short — to more than balance out his two turnovers on an interception and fumble. The 34-year-old Hill also moved into ninth place in franchise history with 44 total TDs, four behind receiver Eric Martin.
Hill also completed an 18-yard pass and returned a kickoff 42 yards.
Derek Carr passed for 248 yards and two touchdowns for New Orleans (4-7), highlighted by Marquez Valdes-Scantling’s 71-yard catch and run on a short crossing route.
Jameis Winston passed for 395 yards and two TDs for the Browns (2-8) in his return to the city he called home for the previous four NFL seasons.
His scoring throws including a short pass during a scramble that Jerry Jeudy turned into an 89-yard TD. He also hit Elijah Moore in the back of the end zone with a 30-yard pass, and followed that with a completion to tight end David Njoku for 2-point conversion that tied the game at 14 in the third quarter.
Jeudy finished with six catches for a game-high 142 yards receiving.
The Saints rushed for 214 yards as a team, with Alvin Kamara contributing 67 yards on 16 carries.
Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins pulled field goal attempts of 51 and 32 yards wide left in the second quarter, allowing the Saints to take a 14-8 lead into halftime.
Browns: Left tackle Dawand Jones, who was getting a spot start for scratched tackle Jedrick Willis Jr., was carted off the field with an air cast on his left leg. He was replaced in the lineup by Germain Ifedi.
Saints: In his first game back from a groin injury that sidelined him for eight weeks, center Erik McCoy got up slowly after Valdes-Scantling's long TD early in the second quarter. He was treated on the sideline, pedaled a stationary bike and briefly returned — but left the game again for good in the second half, replace by Shane Lemieux.
The Browns host Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
The Saints enter their bye week, followed by a home game against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 1.
