Saints Rally From 10-Point Deficit to Survive Browns

The Saints have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, seeing their defense close out the game against the Browns.

Author:
John Hendrix
Publish date:
Dec 24, 2022 3:54 PM EST

In this story:

New Orleans Saints

The Saints held on to pick up their first back-to-back victory of the season in Cleveland, winning 17-10 against the Browns on Saturday. New Orleans rattled off 17 unanswered points after falling into a 10-0 lead in the first half, and their defense closed out the game late after tons of theatrics involved. They're now 6-9 on the season.

Game Recap

New Orleans started out on defense after winning the coin toss and electing to defer to the second half kickoff. They forced a three-and-out to start after surrendering a big kickoff return, and then traded it right back to them with a three-and-out of their own facing field position from their own 1-yard-line to start.

Cleveland had another three-and-out on their ensuing possession, despite having an ideal start from the Saints' 49-yard-line. The punt went into the end zone and led to a touchback, and the New Orleans offense went to work. They got the game's first down after Andy Dalton hooked up with David Johnson out of the backfield, and then also got a big 16-yard hookup from Dalton to Rashid Shaheed. However, the drive would eventually stall out after the team got across midfield, mainly due to an intentional grounding call on Dalton.

The Saints punted back to the Browns a few plays later, and got an excellent boot from Blake Gillikin to down them inside their own 5-yard-line. New Orleans forced another three-and-out on defense, getting the ball back at the Cleveland 45-yard-line with 3:38 to play in the opening quarter. It took them just three plays to make the first mistake of the game, as Dalton was picked off on a pass intended to Juwan Johnson that should have been caught, but was instead tipped up to Grant Delpit for the pick.

The interception return flipped field position, and it took Cleveland just five plays to get into the end zone, as Deshaun Watson took it in from 12 yards out to open the second quarter and take a 7-0 lead. New Orleans returned the favor with a three-and-out on their next series.

Cleveland proceeded to put together nearly a 9-minute drive that went 17 plays for 60 yards. It included a questionable penalty accepted by Dennis Allen, seeing his defense giving up multiple third-and-long situations, as well as a 4th Down conversion. They also lucked out from Amari Cooper missing a wide open catch in the back of the end zone, but Cade York booted through a 30-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead with 4:07 left in the half.

New Orleans put together their best drive of the game operating in the four-minute offense. The Saints finally got Taysom Hill going, as he had positive back-to-back plays on the 10-play, 68-yard drive that led to a 23-yard Wil Lutz field goal to cut the score to 10-3 before halftime. They also benefitted from a personal foul penalty after a Hill carry. However, the offense was stuffed down near the goal line.

Second Half

Starting with the ball in the third quarter, the Saints did not waste their opportunity. They went 67 yards in 9 plays, which featured heavy doses of Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill. New Orleans would also get a good play from Rashid Shaheed en route to an 8-yard touchdown run from Hill to tie things up at 10-10. They also responded with forcing a three-and-out on the Browns on the next possession, thanks largely in part to a big 3rd-and-1 stop on Kareem Hunt.

Cleveland would respond defensively on their next outing, forcing a three-and-out and shutting the door on Alvin Kamara for a 3rd-and-2. New Orleans punted back with 4:13 to play in the third, and they got a huge defensive play just a few snaps into the Browns possession, as Daniel Sorensen picked off Deshaun Watson after a tipped pass intended for David Bell went into his hands and was returned for a good gain inside the Browns' 15-yard-line. Just several plays later, Alvin Kamara took it in from 8 yards out to make it 17-10 Saints with 0:55 left in the third.

The next Browns series saw them rattle off a few plays, getting one first down to Amari Cooper on a 3rd-and-7 play that put their offense into New Orleans territory. However, they chose to be aggressive and pass the ball and eventually had to punt it back to the Saints with 13:26 left in the game. They had a decent drive going, especially after Dalton connected with Alvin Kamara on the choice route for a 29-yard gain to get near midfield. However, things would stall out and see New Orleans punt back to Cleveland with 9:41 to play in the game.

The Browns ran a few plays on their next series, but faced an important 4th-and-2 from their own 39-yard-line that they elected to go for. However, they elected to throw the football despite getting some real good success from Nick Chubb on the drive. New Orleans took over with 6:55 left in the game, but ran a three-and-out to give the Browns back the ball with 5:16 left.

Cleveland was on the move before the 2-minute warning, as they converted a big 3rd-and-13 from their own 40-yard-line after Paulson Adebo was called for a hold on Amari Cooper. They got another big conversion to him with under a minute to go, and then followed it up with Watson hitting David Bell for an 18-yard gain to get to the Saints' 15-yard-line. Cleveland would get blanked on several tries from there, with a big sack from Carl Granderson on the final 4th-and-10 play.

New Orleans is still alive, and has the Eagles on the road next week.