By Lewis Gould
Jameis Winston connected with Marquez Callaway on a Hail Mary touchdown on the final play of the first half, one of Winston’s four touchdown passes, to help the Saints beat WFT 33-22.
“Turnovers are going to happen — you just don’t want the trickle-down effect to happen,” said Winston, who completed 15 of 30 passes for 279 yards and made up for an inexplicable interception on the first possession and a fumble on Chase Young’s first sack of the season. “We played efficient football. We made plays when we needed it.”
The win came at a cost with two more injuries. Winston took every snap at quarterback for the first time this season, a necessity after Taysom Hill suffered a concussion while trying to catch a pass in the second quarter.
Winston completed a 72-yard touchdown pass to Deonte Harris, who departed with a hamstring injury. He also connected with Callaway on the 49-yard Hail Mary TD, found Callaway wide open from 12 yards out early in the fourth quarter and sent Washington fans to the exits with a pass to Alvin Kamara that turned into a 19-yard score.
Kamara also had a 23-yard TD run, returned punts in Harris’ absence and racked up 151 total yards.
“Any time I’m catching the ball, I love it,” said Kamara, who didn’t have a reception last week in the overtime loss to the New York Giants. “I think it adds an aspect to our offense. We had an opportunity to do that.”
The Saints (3-2) picked off Taylor Heinicke twice and put some pressure on him a week after not sacking the Giants’ Daniel Jones. Antonio Gibson ran for two touchdowns, but Washington (2-3) could not outscore another rough performance by its defense.
“I think we lack a little bit of confidence right now,” coach Ron Rivera said. “I’m very frustrated. We have too many good football players. Your record tells everybody what you are. We’re a 2/3 football team.”
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