The New Orleans Saints were back in action after the bye week when the Cleveland Browns visited the Big Easy on Sunday afternoon. Here’s a full recap of the matchup.
Cleveland began the game by going three-and-out, before Audric Estime got the Saints offense going straight away with three runs totalling 32 yards.
Tyler Shough then found Juwan Johnson for 19 more with his first throw, but a few unsuccessful runs and a sack later, the Saints were held to a field goal attempt.
Charlie Smyth converted from 30 yards to give the black and gold an early lead.
The Browns were then forced into another quick punt as the Saints defense got off to a strong start.
Shough found Chris Olave for 11 yards before breaking off for a 14-yard run, but it was soon another field goal attempt after he was sacked on 3rd down.
This time, Smyth was no good from 52 yards, and the score remained 3-0.
Shadeur Sanders found the first big play of the game for Cleveland with a 16-yard pass to Dylan Sampson, who also had a few short gains on the ground as the Browns drove past midfield.
After being stuffed short of the chains on 3rd down, a 41-yard field goal from Andre Szmyt tied the game.
Shough then copied a play from Paris with a 52-yard bomb downfield to Barion Brown as the Saints sought to regain the lead.
But a play later, Jordyn Tyson fumbled after making a catch, which the defense fell on to return possession to the Browns.
New Orleans was able to force another quick punt out of the Browns, but Brown fumbled on the return. Cleveland fell on it in the red zone.
A penalty against Carl Granderson helped the visitors set up 1st-and-goal, but he made up for it by sacking Sanders to push them back.
A few plays later, Sanders was just short of the goal line on 3rd-and-goal. The Browns offense stayed out there, and the Saints were able to come out big with a stop on 4th down to keep the game at 3-3.
Shough connected with Olave for 36 yards to move the Saints out from deep in their own territory, but after another pass for just one yard and two incompletions, they were forced to punt just before the half.
New Orleans went three-and-out and punted to begin the second half, before Sanders scrambled for 11 yards on 3rd down to avoid the same fate.
He then completed a 60-yard pass to Denzel Boston to set up 1st-and-goal.
But the Saints’ defense came up huge once again, with a tackle-for-loss, sack, and incompletion from Sanders limiting Cleveland to a chip-shot field goal that gave them a 6-3 lead.
Shough responded with a scoring drive of his own, on a 54-yard drive highlighted by a 12-yard pass to Noah Fant and his own scrambles moving the ball down the field.
Smyth’s 27-yard kick tied the game at 6-6.
Cleveland then went three-and-out as Granderson got to the quarterback once again, but New Orleans would do the same, which gave the visitors the ball to begin the fourth.
Sanders got the ball to midfield with a 10-yard pass to KC Concepcion, but failed to find another first down. He threw an incomplete pass to Sampson on 4th-and-2, and the Saints took over on downs again.
Taking advantage of the shorter field, Shough moved the black and gold into field goal range with a 9-yard throw to Tyson.
After being sacked by Myles Harden, the Saints were forced into yet another field goal, which Smyth converted from 48 yards.
But the lead didn’t last long, as Sanders threw a 64-yard touchdown to Concepcion on the opening play of the ensuing drive to give Cleveland a 13-9 advantage.
New Orleans then went three-and-out, before Cleveland had another punt of their own around the two-minute warning.
Needing a touchdown, Shough found Olave for 33 yards to move the drive into the red zone. He then found Alvin Kamara for 8 more, before Estime ran in the 2-yard score to re-establish the lead for the black and gold.
But Sanders threw twice for a total of 37 yards to Jerry Jeudy, which set up a field goal that Szmyt converted from 51 yards to force overtime.
The Saints received first, and Kamara broke off three big runs as the ball moved past midfield.
Shough then found Devaughn Vele for 9 yards before Estime ran for 9 more.
Shough ran for 8 yards before finding Vele again, setting up a 15-yard touchdown throw to Johnson to give the black and gold a 23-16 lead.
Needing a touchdown of their own, two passes from Sanders to Boston helped Cleveland into Saints territory.
Sanders then found Harold Fannin Jr for a 39-yard touchdown.
Cleveland opted to go for two and the win, which is where the Saints came up with the biggest stop of the day as Sanders’ pass intended for Boston fell incomplete.
New Orleans held on 23-22 to set up a huge divisional matchup next weekend with the Carolina Panthers.
See More:
* [New Orleans Saints Scores and Results](/new-orleans-saints-scores-results)