Well how about that? The New Orleans Saints got out of their own way long enough to outlast the Cleveland Browns in the wind and snow, leaving town with a 17-10 win. It’s the second time Dennis Allen has won consecutive games in his 51-game career as a head coach, and the Saints made it a lot harder than it needed to be, but we’ll take it. A win is a win.
The Saints improved to 6-9 on the season and remain in the thick of the NFC South title race. They’re safe from playoff elimination for another week, leaving fans free to enjoy the holiday weekend. Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating.
New Orleans pivoted to more of a run-based attack in the second half, finishing the day with 152 rushing yards as a team — led by running back Alvin Kamara (20 carries for 76 yards) and tight end Taysom Hill (9 carries for 56 yards), both of whom scored second-half touchdown runs. Quarterback Andy Dalton dealt with some drops by his receivers (one of which was intercepted) and fumbled a pair of snap exchanges in the freezing conditions, ending the game with just 92 passing yards. But he avoided sacks, didn’t turn the ball over on his own account, and it was enough to win the day.
The Saints defense bottled up Deshaun Watson and the Browns passing attack well, given an assist from the weather. Watson only completed 15 of his 31 pass attempts for 135 yards with his own pass deflection-turned-interception, and he was sacked twice on the afternoon. Most critically he took a sack on Cleveland’s last play of the game facing fourth down just outside of the end zone. Good on Saints defensive end Carl Granderson for the heady play.
Things are far from settled. The Saints are still ranked third in the division title race. They could have lost it to a more competent opponent, but the Browns tripped over themselves by stubbornly asking Watson to throw into the wind rather than leaning harder on their superstar running back Nick Chubb.
But, hey: a win is a win. We’ll take it, and so will the Saints. There will be plenty of time to look back on this game more critically in the days ahead.
