Nick Chubb rushed for 92 yards to lead the offense and Amari Cooper caught six passes for seventy-two yards to lead the receivers.
Cleveland drops to 6-9 on the season and will finish the year with two road games in Washington and Pittsburgh.
Brownie Bits
1) Maybe the ground wasn't covered with snow but the weather was certainly a factor (six degrees and a windchill of fifteen below at kickoff) with the temperature and wind chill.
The game was the third coldest ever played in Cleveland and you would think that the home team would have an advantage over a team that plays in a dome in the Deep South.
2) However, you would be wrong as once the Saints figured out in the second quarter that using running quarterback Taysom Hill and Alvin Kamara to pound the football at the Browns run defense was the best way to get back into the game.
After the Saints committed to the running game, they outscored Cleveland 17-0 for the remainder of the game.
3) And there are the weekly Kevin Stefanski play-calling questions.
Early in the fourth quarter after two Nick Chubb runs, the Browns have a third and two on their own thirty-nine.
Considering the conditions and having Nick Chubb on your team, one would think that at least one running play would be in order.
Instead, DeShaun Watson throws two incomplete passes.
Too smart for his own good could be the epitaph on the Kevin Stefanski tenure in Cleveland.
4) The vaunted Cleveland pass rush never got to Andy Dalton and while Dalton threw only fifteen passes, I only remember one time that Myles Garrett (or anyone else) came close to dumping Dalton to the ground.
5) DeShaun Watson threw thirty-one passes (Over twice as many as the Saints tossed) on a day that should have favored what the Browns offensive identity is supposed to be.
No matter the performance of Watson, that's on Kevin Stefanski.
6) Watson didn't dazzle but in this weather very few could do so.
Watson's one interception wasn't a great pass but David Bell couldn't haul it in as it bounced off Bell and into the hands of a nemesis of Browns past- safety Daniel Sorensen, who returned the ball thirty-six yards to the Cleveland fifteen and gave the Saints a short field for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
7) Watson also didn't receive help from his pass catchers on the final drive when second and third down throws to Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Njoku were both on the money with both receivers failing to bring the ball in for game-tying scores.
Watson was then sacked on the fourth down attempt to end the game.
8) Watson also threw an excellent pass to Amari Cooper in the end zone in the second quarter but Cooper dropped the ball when just as the ball arrived, Cooper slipped on the slick turf and was unable to grab the throw.
It's understandable to have these things happen under the playing conditions but receivers are paid to catch the football.
9) The Browns did make a move earlier this week by signing veteran right tackle Jack Conklin to a three-year contract extension.
The signing of Conklin locks three of the five starters on the offensive line (Wyatt Teller and Joel Bitonio) into long-term contracts with a looming decision in the off-season for the team to choose whether or not to pick up the fifth-year option of left tackle Jedrick Wills.
10) The Browns were officially eliminated from the playoffs with the defeat.
This took longer than expected as due to an eye injury, I am only able to read/write in short time bursts.
That is also why there was not a PPM this week.
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