Saints show toughness in 17-10 win at Cleveland

  • December 24, 2022
  • By Ken Trahan
  • Category: Saints
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The weather outside was frightful. It was the coldest weather game in Browns history at just 9 degrees at game time.

Cleveland fans were smart. Very few showed up.

In fact, so few were there that in the first quarter, the public address announcer told fans in the upper deck they could move to the lower deck.

The football game was delightful for the New Orleans Saints and their fans.

The Dome team was supposed to fold in the cold. That is an old axiom.

Instead, the New Orleans Saints were bold, getting a late hold when it mattered most to secure a big win.

The Saints did it by scoring the final 17 points of the game.

Andy Dalton entered the game 12-5 against the Browns, no stranger to the cold weather or the Dog Pound as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals for nine seasons (2011-19).

Dalton entered the game 10th in the NFL in Quarterback Rating and 10th in the league in completion percentage, playing solid football.

Dalton is now 13-5 against the Browns.

Here are my Quick Takes from the 17-10 win at Cleveland:

**Inactives were Lewis Kidd, Marshon Lattimore, Marcus Maye, Chris Olave, Payton Turner, Dwayne Washington and Pete Werner.

**Jarvis Landry was placed on injured reserve prior to the game.

**The Saints won the toss and deferred and forced a 3-and-out but Corey Bojorquez punted 57 yards to the New Orleans 1-yard line.

**The Saints forced another 3-and-out on the Browns’ next possession.

**New Orleans got a nice drive going from its own 20-yard line, reaching the Cleveland 37-yard line but an intentional grounding penalty on Andy Dalton stalled the drive.

**On the grounding call, Dalton was throwing to a spot. He was not under pressure. It was simply miscommunication as receivers broke off their routes and it was an unfortunate, if not inappropriate call. Dalton was not throwing the ball away.

**Alvin Kamara limped off with 5:34 to play in the first quarter after a reception from Andy Dalton and oft-injured Andrus Peat went down on the same play. Kamara was able to return on the next series but Calvin Throckmorton replaced Peat.

**Blake Gillikin delivered an excellent punt, downed at the Cleveland 3-yard line with 5:10 to play in the opening quarter.

**The Saints failed to take advantage, going 3-and-out again. Dalton fumbled his second shotgun snap on second down.

**On third down, Dalton threw for Juwan Johnson, hit him in the hands but Johnson knocked it in the air and former LSU star Grant Delpit intercepted it and returned it 40 yards to the New Orleans 30-yard line.

**It was Dalton’s first inception since November 13 at Pittsburgh.

**Cleveland took full advantage, driving 30 yards in five plays with Deshaun Watson scoring on a 12-yard run on a keeper left, untouched, to make it 7-0 on the first play of the second quarter. It was Watson’s first rushing touchdown with the Browns.

**The Browns then pounded away and extended the lead to 10-0 with 4:07 to play in the half. It could easily have been 14-0.

**Cleveland drove 60 yards in 17 plays, taking 8:44 off the clock with former LSU star Cade York booting a 30-yard field goal.

**On the final play before the field goal, Watson, with all time to throw, found Amare Cooper wide open in the middle of the back of the end zone but Cooper dropped it when he slipped on the icy turf.

**New Orleans finally mounted a drive, going 68 yards in 10 plays, taking the final 4:07 off the clock of the half with Wil Lutz kicking a 23-yard field goal to make it 10-3 at halftime.

**On the drive, Taysom Hill rushed on successive plays for 10 and 16 yards and on the second carry, the Browns incurred a helmet-to-helmet personal foul penalty as Tony Fields tackled Hill, setting up the score.

**The total yards at halftime had Cleveland with a 120 to 114 advantage with the turnover being the big difference.

**New Orleans continued its momentum, taking the second half kickoff and driving 67 yards in nine plays, taking 5:20 off the clock with Hill bulling his way into the end zone from 8-yards out to give to tie the game 10-10 with 9:40 to play in the third quarter.

**On the drive, Alvin Kamara rushed three times for 23 yards and Hill rushed twice for 21 yards and the score.

**Justin Evans left the game with a shoulder injury and was replaced by veteran Daniel Sorensen, who immediately made his mark.

**Sorensen intercepted a Watson pass which was tipped by Alontae Taylor, intended for David Belle and returned it 30 yards to the Cleveland 15-yard line.

**The Saints capitalized, going 15 yards in four plays with Kamara scoring on a 4-yard run to make it 17-10 with 55 seconds to play in the third quarter.

**Cleveland rolled the dice n fourth-and-two at its own 39-yard line midway through the fourth quarter and Watson passed incomplete with 6:55 to play in the game.

**The Browns had a chance with one good final drive, starting with 5:16 to play in the game, starting at its own 20-yard line.

**Cleveland drove to the New Orleans 15-yard line and a couple of passes by Watson went through the hands of receivers that could have been scores.

**Then, on fourth down, Carl Granderson, who played very well, sacked Watson to secure the victory.

It was as good a win as the Saints have posted this season, all things considered. The Saints played hard and played tough in very tough conditions.

On Christmas Eve, the Saints delivered a Christmas present to their fans and for the first time this season, New Orleans has won back-to-back games. In the coldest game in franchise history, the Saints performed warmly.

The Saints head to Philadelphia next Sunday to take on the Eagles, who have the best record in the NFL.

On a day and time of season where the hope of the world is recognized, the New Orleans Saints retained hope for the remainder of the 2022 season.

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Ken Trahan

CEO/Owner

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Born and raised in the New Orleans area, CCSE CEO Ken Trahan has been a sports media fixture in the community for nearly four decades. Ken started NewOrleans.com/Sports with Bill Hammack and Don Jones in 2008. In 2011, the site became SportsNOLA.com. On August 1, 2017, Ken helped launch CrescentCitySports.com. Having accumulated national awards/recognition (National Sports Media Association, National Football…

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