It wasn’t easy, but the Saints managed to stave off what would have been an ugly home upset at the hands of the Browns.
Cleveland took a 6-3 lead into halftime and extended it to 12-3 in the third quarter. But the Saints benefited from the Browns’ kicking woes and managed a come-from-behind 21-18 victory.
Browns kicker Zane Gonzalez missed two field goals and an extra point, with his last miss coming with three seconds remaining. Gonzalez will almost certainly be out of a job this week. It was an epic meltdown.
But he wasn’t the only one to blame. There was Tyrod Taylor, who threw a costly interception that helped set up the Saints’ go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. And there was Browns coach Hue Jackson, who saw his team mismanage timeouts and try the final field goal with eight seconds left, rather than throwing a sideline pass to get a little closer to give Gonzalez a chance.
The Saints haven’t played up to expectations so far this season, but they played well enough to win and even their record at 1-1. The Browns have played better than expected, but that’s not saying much, as they’re now 0-1-1.