Trevor Siemian threw a touchdown pass in place of the injured Jameis Winston and P.J. Williams made a clinching pick-six of Tom Brady as the host New Orleans Saints defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 36-27 on Sunday.
Siemian replaced Winston in the second quarter, completed 16 of 29 for 159 yards and drove the Saints (5-2) 70 yards to Brian Johnson’s 23-yard field goal that gave them a 29-27 lead with 1:44 remaining.
On the second play of the ensuing possession Williams stepped in front of a Brady pass and ran 40 yards for a touchdown.
Brady, who threw a go-ahead 50-yard touchdown pass to Cyril Grayson with 5:44 left, completed 28 of 40 for 375 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions as the Bucs (6-2) saw their lead over New Orleans in the NFC South slip to half a game.
Chris Godwin caught eight of Brady’s passes for 140 yards and a 12-yard touchdown that started the scoring in the first quarter.
Winston, a former Buc, completed six of 10 for 56 yards and a 16-yard touchdown to Tre’Quan Smith that tied the score at the end of the first quarter. Winston, who ran four times for 40 yards, injured a knee while scrambling and being tackled awkwardly by Tampa Bay linebacker Devin White, who was penalized for a horse-collar tackle.
Taysom Hill, New Orleans’ No. 2 quarterback, was unavailable as he remains in concussion protocol.
The score was tied at seven when Winston left, but Siemian soon drove the Saints to Johnson’s 23-yard field goal and threw a one-yard touchdown pass to fullback Alex Armah for a 16-7 halftime lead.
On the first possession of the third quarter, Alvin Kamara ran one yard for a touchdown on fourth down, pushing the Saints’ lead to 23-7.
Brady responded with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Giovani Bernard and a 41-yarder to Mike Evans on consecutive possessions, cutting the lead to 23-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Johnson’s 35-yard field goal gave New Orleans a 26-21 lead with 8:31 remaining.
–Field Level Media
