Browns

CLEVELAND (AP) — On a freezing day for football, the Browns' most jarring chill came at the end. Unable to deliver the big play in the clutch, ...

“We have to give everything that we have,” he said. You have respect for Dave and everything he brings to this team and this organization. Myself, I’ve got to get better.” It’s not where we expected to be at the beginning of the season.” But the tight end couldn’t handle it and had the ball bounce off his shoulder just short of the goal line. But little has gone as planned for the Browns, who didn’t live up to expectations despite a talented roster.

Playing in the coldest game in franchise history with the wind-chill temperature in negative digits and with their faint playoff hopes on the line, the New ...

The Saints will play at the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. "The weather was certainly a factor." 1 before ending the regular season at home against the Carolina Panthers either on Jan. On the next possession, backup safety [Daniel Sorensen](/team/players-roster/daniel-sorensen/) intercepted Watson, setting up a 4-yard [Alvin Kamara](/team/players-roster/alvin-kamara/) touchdown run. The Saints scored on a short Wil Lutz field goal as time expired in the first half to make it 10-3. The Buccaneers play at Arizona (4-10) on Sunday.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill each had touchdown runs and the New Orleans Saints went outside and handled Cleveland's arctic-like cold in a ...

... S Justin Evans (shoulder) didn’t play in the second half. Only the Browns’ 1981 playoff game (1 degree) against the Oakland Raiders was worse. “We said this game was going to be about mental toughness, and the mentally tougher team would win,” Saints coach Dennis Allen said. It was coldest at FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened in 1999. It is not where we expected to be at the beginning of the season.” “That’s what we came in wanting to do.” New Orleans came in trailing Tampa Bay by one game in the weak, wide-open NFC South. Saints: LG Andrus Peat (leg) was carted to the locker room in the first quarter, another blow to New Orleans’ offensive line after guard Cesar Ruiz went on IR earlier in the week. Nothing was going to stop it from being cold. “It is not where we want to be. It was cold. The Saints (6-9) were 0-6 in outdoor games this season before rallying to beat the Browns (6-9) in the coldest game in New Orleans history.

A game no one will be telling their grandchildren about, the Cleveland Browns had their playoff chances snuffed out by the New Orleans Saints in weather ...

That led to their only touchdown of the game. That proved to be the difference. The Saints took over at the Browns 15-yard line and scored in four plays. They got the last drive of the first half. Those two drives accounted for 135 of the Saints 244 total yards on the day. Much of the Browns success on that side of the ball was caused by timely blitzes and occasionally inspired linebacker play. It would helpful to know if those plays were straight passes or if they were called with the option for Watson to run the ball. The play calling had their own set of curious decisions in this game. The Browns settled for a field goal instead of having a two-touchdown lead. The issue Watson has been dealing with has been the speed of the game, but since everyone was so much slower in this contest, it was largely irrelevant. Donovan Peoples-Jones dropped a ball in the corner of the end zone in which he had position, with his back to the defender but couldn't hang onto the pass. They at least had the sense to do most of it with the wind at their backs.

No dome, no problem for the New Orleans Saints who came into the supposedly advantaged Cleveland Browns in icy, outdoor conditions.

Now that the Browns are eliminated from the playoffs, it’s time to have some real fun. The Browns do not have as many voids to fill as it seems, but this is a good class to have eight picks in given its depth. We can argue about the run/pass splits as much as we want, but the short answer is that the Browns left at least 14 points on the board because of lapses in execution. [a deep crop of defensive tackles](https://brownswire.usatoday.com/lists/browns-2023-nfl-draft-top-defensive-tackles-11-22/) and edge rushers, both needs for the Browns. The Saints advance to 6-9 on the season as well. No dome, no problem for the New Orleans Saints who came into the supposedly advantaged Cleveland Browns in icy, outdoor conditions.

The Browns still have two games left even after their playoff hopes went up in flames with the loss to the Saints. That leaves it to personal pride.

You have to keep on fighting regardless of what the specifics are or what the circumstances are. At the end of the day, you have to keep on fighting. It is not where we expected to be at the beginning of the season. Now, the question of motivation is a real one for them to face. They walked past a wall of mirror departing the locker room area. Where their path takes them next season, be it still in Cleveland or elsewhere around the NFL, could depend on "putting good film out there and just doing your job," as linebacker Reggie Ragland said. So I think with those next two games coming up, we'll still go with that same mindset ‘cause then if we finish strong with that, then it can roll over to the next season.” They were written off in October after a four-game losing streak left them at 2-5, then gave a flash of hope in an impressive Halloween night rout of the Cincinnati Bengals. You want to go out there and show that you can be that player that beats those odds.” The Browns could always hide behind the potential − no matter how mathematically slim − of making the playoffs as motivation as long as it was still out there for them. That's even as he said the thing one would only expect to hear from him when it asked if he's allowed one eye to peek toward what could be next season. The [Browns' All-Pro left guard's](https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/pro/browns/2022/12/22/cleveland-browns-myles-garrett-nick-chubb-joel-bitonio-selected-nfl-pro-bowl-honors-awards/69746831007/) face showed it even more than anything that he said.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Browns were delivered a cold-hearted 17-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday. Yet, the biggest factor for the loss was not ...

In the 2023 NFL season, the Browns are set to play the AFC South and the NFC West as well as the rest of the AFC North. There are still three match-ups that are ...

If the Browns finish 3rd in the AFC North then based on the current standings, they will host the New England Patriots again and Green Bay Packers. The Browns have lost two consecutive games against the Jets, including the 31-30 heart-breaking lost back in week two of this season. There are still three match-ups that are To-Be-Determined based on where the Browns finish in the AFC North this season and how those other divisions close out as well.

On a record-cold day at FirstEnergy Stadium, the Browns were unable to score crucial second-half points against the Saints.

The weather certainly contributed to that, and Watson was forced to pass more than the Browns likely would've preferred in the conditions because they were behind on the scoreboard late in the game. Moment that mattered most: On the second drive of the second half, Watson dropped back for a pass and looked to connect with WR David Bell. The Browns struck first on the scoreboard with a 12-yard touchdown run from Deshaun Watson, his first rushing TD as the Browns' starting QB, and a 30-yard field goal from Cade York.

The New Orleans Saints are hanging on by a thread to a playoff spot after their 17-10 victory over the Browns in a freezing cold Cleveland.

WR Jarvis Landry (ankle) didn't get to reunite with his former Cleveland native teammates after going on IR Thursday. "We said this game was going to be about mental toughness, and the mentally tougher team would win," Saints coach Dennis Allen said. "That’s what we came in wanting to do." It is not where we expected to be at the beginning of the season." It was coldest at First Energy Stadium, which opened in 1999. Saints: LG Andrus Peat (leg) was carted to the locker room in the first quarter, another blow to New Orleans' offensive line after guard Cesar Ruiz went on IR earlier in the week. New Orleans came in trailing Tampa Bay by one game in the weak, wide-open NFC South. Nothing was going to stop it from being cold. "It is not where we want to be. It was cold. [in the playoff mix](https://www.foxnews.com/category/sports/nfl). [the Saints](https://www.foxnews.com/category/sports/nfl/new-orleans-saints) went outside and handled the frightful weather — and the Browns.

Saints tight end Taysom Hill (7) carries Cleveland Browns defenders into the end zone for an 8-yard rushing ...

- Great to see Allen give a game ball to the Saints equipment staff. - Tough holding call on Paulson Adebo when the Saints forced an incompletion on third and long on the Browns’ final drive. Cleveland ended up passing more than anyone thought, and when they did the Saints defensive backs, who were down on available players, stepped up. Thankfully, they got him going late in the second quarter. Against the Browns, they combined for 31 and needed every last one of them. The Saints responded with their most important drive of the day. If you go all the way back to their shutout against Las Vegas, that unit is surrendering just 15.6 points per game. Their effort was not perfect, but in the end they were the smarter team that handled the conditions appropriately and earned their first winning streak of the season because of it. Deshaun Watson found Amari Cooper all alone in the back of the end zone to put the Browns up, 14-0. Two drives later, Daniel Sorensen, who saw his most action of the season at safety, got the one takeaway back that they needed when Alontae Taylor tipped the ball into Sorensen’s arms for the interception. They went nine plays, ran the ball seven times, converted to third downs and finished it off with a Taysom Hill touchdown run. This was the type of win a team does not get if they’re checked out on the season.

Cleveland let a winnable game slip away Saturday and -- though blame could be shared -- the heat is rising for coach Kevin Stefanski.

This is a really bad loss, and a really bad ending to the home schedule. Good teams find a way to win those close ones and find a way to close the door.” [Nick Chubb](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/nick-chubb-NW1Jv9Ej3oDBk3yr/) brought the offense to life (and out of the shadow of its own goal line) early in the fourth. The Saints started converting their third and fourth downs in the third quarter; the Browns failed on their biggest ones. The Browns have long known they weren’t going to make the postseason, but they still had a chance given the awkward Watson circumstances and some recent strong defensive showings to finish it with a flurry. [Grant Delpit](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/grant-delpit-jGHB8Ih6PiEShvaH/) interception into a Watson rushing touchdown to take the early lead. But the ultra-reliable [Amari Cooper](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/amari-cooper-8skQnSg23GLuojrg/) slipped and couldn’t catch a touchdown pass, and they settled for a field goal and a 10-0 lead. That sequence in which they needed two yards and instead threw two passes that never had a chance highlights the external frustration with the play-calling on this day, a day that was greatly affected by the weather. They started snapping directly to Hill and running back [Alvin Kamara](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/alvin-kamara-P97exASS2fLu1NYP/), and they started attacking the shaky Browns’ run defense. The third-down pass to [David Njoku](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/david-njoku-zRWbKdclapogMzcq/) definitely should have been caught. [Browns](https://theathletic.com/nfl/team/browns/) were up 10-0 and the Saints were a sloppy mess, so New Orleans made the key (and overdue) adjustment of embracing the weather conditions and the situation and going to the run game. Utility man [Taysom Hill](https://theathletic.com/nfl/player/taysom-hill-EkvNknCaAlWP9pSo/) came in as a part-time quarterback and part-time fullback.

After another loss filled with mistakes and missed opportunities, Cleveland is left to wonder what might have been.

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Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara lead the way for the New Orleans Saints as they seal a victory over Deshaun Watson and the Cleveland Browns.

With a big test on the way in the next week, New Orleans will look to extend that streak to three straight games against the Philadelphia Eagles. But even with that, the team is well within the division conversation even if their focus is not on their postseason lives. There was no reason for the Browns to throw the ball 31 times in this matchup. What that amounted to was just 3.4 yards per play, their second least-successful quarter of the game. Good to know that Hill got the opportunities he served, especially in this style matchup. New Orleans is certainly not the coldest place to play or practice in the NFL, even when outdoors. But that has clearly not held the Saints back in their games. For the first time in the 2022 NFL season, the New Orleans Saints have won two games in a row. So to turn around and win on the prowess of those elements is a positive step for New Orleans. Even in a game wherein the rushing attack was paramount, a couple of incomplete passes to practice squad member Keith Kirkwood more than showed how much Olave would have impacted Saturday’s game. But the Browns put a lot more pressure on themselves than necessary, leading to some very questionable play-calling on the Cleveland sideline. The latter win coming on a 17-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns in a dreadfully cold FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Browns struggled to find big plays late against the Saints on a frigid afternoon in Cleveland.

At the end of the day, you have to keep on fighting. You have to keep on fighting regardless of what the specifics are or what the circumstances are. "You can't control it, and with different air pockets of the stadium, you don't know where it's going to go." On the next opportunity, we'll take advantage of it." Watson heaved a well-placed pass to Njoku's hands, but the ball bounced off him and fell incomplete. No one on the Browns, however, was interested in using the frigid conditions as an excuse.

Deshaun Watson gave the Browns an early lead with his legs and his arm gave them a chance late. In between, they let one slip away to the Saints.

The other factor was going to the field. Watson threw back-to-back incompletions on second and third down in the first 90 seconds of the fourth after reaching the Saints 42. The next play, on third-and-10 from the New Orleans 15 with 30 seconds left, Watson threw a pass to tight end David Njoku just shy of the goal line. “That was the play call," Watson said. However, much like he did two weeks ago on a similar fourth-down pass against Cincinnati, Peoples-Jones was unable to bring the ball in for the catch. They ended up with three points instead of seven in the second quarter when Amari Cooper slipped in the back of the end zone just as the ball was arriving, hitting off his hands and falling incomplete. Watson, though, helped drive the Browns with a chance late in the game. That's because the Saints had scored 17 unanswered to take a 17-10 lead, the final seven points set up when his pass off the hands of David Bell was intercepted by New Orleans safety Daniel Sorensen. Watson's touchdown run looked like it was going to be part of the Browns' once again keeping their playoff hopes alive. You just have to, like I said, finish these two weeks strong and then look back and review the season and what we could have did better and try to improve. The quarterback's much-discussed running ability allowed the Browns to break into the scoring column first. There was the

CLEVELAND — It's another lump of coal in the stockings of Cleveland fans. The Browns were officially eliminated from the playoffs this Christmas Eve by ...

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