Saints win 8th straight
New Orleans comes from 15 points down, wins eighth straight.
New Orleans rallies from 15 points down to beat Washington in OT,
Alvin Kamara
NEW ORLEANS — climbed into the Superdome stands, stood in the first row with his arms folded and soaked in the adulation of fans who were relishing their decision to stick around after all looked lost.
Kamara’s celebration of his 18-yard touchdown reception had an air of presumption, given New Orleans still needed a 2-point conversion to erase what had been a 15-point deficit when the Washington Redskins scored with 5:58 left in regulation.
Then again, the Saints’ confidence was understandable; they haven’t lost in more than two months.
Kamara climbed back down in time to take a pitch into the end zone for the needed conversion,
and the Saints won their eighth straight when Wil Lutz’s 28-yard field goal capped a 34-31 triumph in overtime.
“We just kind of hung in there.
Guys believed,” said Saints coach Sean Payton, whose mind seemed to be racing as he labored to recall details of the frenzied final stretch. “There were a lot of things happening in a short period of time.”
Drew Brees passed for 385 yards and two touchdowns, going 11 of 11 for 164 yards and his only two touchdowns on New Orleans’ final two possessions of regulation. His first TD went to tight end Josh Hill from 3 yards out with 2:53 to go and the last to Kamara with 1:05 left.
“I tip my hat to Brees. That’s what he does. That’s what great quarterbacks do. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to make plays,” said Redskins safety D.J. Swearinger, whose first-quarter interception was Brees’ first turnover in four games.
The unlikely comeback made New Orleans the first team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger to win eight straight after starting 0-2.
“We haven’t encountered a game like this in a while, and it was great to watch the team rally,” said Brees, whose team won its previous seven games more convincingly. “We have the confidence to win in a lot of different ways. We have the personnel to do it and the right attitude to do it.”
The Saints (8-2) set up their final drive by stopping Samaje Perine on third-and-1 at the two-minute warning when a first down would have allowed Washington (4-6) to run out the clock.
Washington moved into winning field-goal range in the final minute of regulation, only to be pushed back by a fluky grounding penalty that appeared to result from Kirk Cousins’ miscommunication receiver Jamison Crowder, followed by a sack.
The Redskins received the ball first in overtime, but the Saints’
hobbled defense, which gave up more yards than in any game during its winning streak, forced a quick punt thanks in part to Cameron Jordan’s sack.
“We had a surplus of emotion
and a surplus of confidence,” Jordan said. “That was the differ
ence-maker.”
Mark Ingram capped a 134yard rushing performance with gains of 20 and 31 yards on backto-back carries to set up Lutz’s clinching kick.