Bengals vs. Ravens, Oct. 9, 2022
CINCINNATI, Ohio — The NFL is known to be a copycat league and the Seattle Seahawks laid out a perfect blueprint on how not to defend the Saints’ Taysom Hill last week for the Bengals.
Hill had a career-best game with nine carries for 112 yards (12.4 yards per carry) with three rushing touchdowns. He also threw for a touchdown, recovered a fumble on special teams and returned three kicks for 69 yards.
He is just the third player in NFL history since 1970 to rush for 100 yards with three touchdowns and score a passing touchdown.
“Our plan for the Wildcat did not work, obviously,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said, after the game. “… It wasn’t new, they had done it, but the things we tried to do didn’t get us off the field.”
Hill played a season-high 23 offensive snaps in the 39-32 win with 11 at quarterback, six in the backfield and six at wide receiver.
Cincinnati has taken notice of his early-season success.
“Very unique,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “Explosive, playmaker. Just remember from his time at college, him doing all that stuff as well. Yeah you’ve got a guy back there that’s an explosive runner, but again, he’s got the background throwing the ball too. You’ve got to treat that different than you would just a traditional wildcat because he can play quarterback.”
Taylor referred to him as a Swiss Army Knife-type player. He leads the NFL by a wide margin with 10.9 yards per carry and is on pace to surpass his career-high rushing total (457 yards) by the halfway point of the season.
Hill’s versatility has contributed to the Saints using 147 different lineup combinations through five games (second most in the league) and they rely heavily on three and four tight end sets.
He could be a larger part of the game plan once again with the Saints’ murky quarterback situation. Jameis Winston returned to practice for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday, but is still rehabbing back and ankle injuries.
Former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton started the last two games for the Saints. Dalton is 1-1 as the starter with 858 yards (69.2%) with two touchdowns and one interception.
The bevy of former New Orleans defenders on Cincinnati have given the team a detailed scouting report on Hill and what challenges he presents.
“A guy that is the ultimate football player,” Bengals safety Vonn Bell said. “Has a knack for the game. He puts his shoulder down. He can run it. He can throw it. He’s an ace on special teams. You have to know where he’s at at all times.”
Chidobe Awuzie also addressed Hill’s skill set with the defense this week. The former Dallas corner played Hill twice during his time with the Cowboys. While Hill played a limited amount of offensive snaps in those games (13 in two games), he left an impression on Awuzie.
“It’s hard to score touchdowns in the red zone, you put him in the red zone, you put him in short-yardage situations and he’s crossing the line every time,” Awuzie said.
He doesn’t want the Saints next opponent to have the same thought he had watching film of Hill this week.
“I was like man, how many (touchdowns) did he have that game?” Awuzie said.
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