Saints Beat Browns 23-22 in Overtime as Cleveland Two-Point Try Fails

The New Orleans Saints beat the Cleveland Browns 23-22 in overtime on Sunday at Caesars Superdome, in a Week 9 game that turned on one final decision. Cleveland scored with about a minute left in overtime to pull within one point, went for two and the win, and came up short when Shedeur Sanders could not connect on the conversion pass. New Orleans improved to 3-5. Cleveland fell to 5-4.

A tie at the end of regulation

Regulation ended 16-16 after a late exchange of scores. Audric Estime ran 2 yards for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give New Orleans a 16-13 lead. Andre Szmyt answered in the final seconds, kicking a 51-yard field goal that tied the game and sent it to overtime.

Overtime decides it

Tyler Shough gave New Orleans the first score of overtime, throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson. Charlie Smyth added the extra point for a 23-16 lead. Cleveland got its own possession in reply, and Sanders brought the Browns back, finishing the drive with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Harold Fannin Jr. with about a minute left in overtime. Down 23-22, Cleveland chose the two-point try instead of kicking to tie. The pass failed, and the Saints held on for the win.

Sanders makes his first start of the season

Sanders made his first start of the season for Cleveland. Deshaun Watson had sustained a concussion, and although Watson was out of the protocol and travelled with the team, Sanders started. He completed 19 of 31 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. His other touchdown was a 64-yard throw to KC Concepcion in the fourth quarter, the first touchdown of Concepcion's career, and it gave Cleveland a 13-9 lead at the time.

Shough completed 21 of 35 passes for 265 yards and one touchdown, with no interceptions, and he ran 10 times for 51 yards. Estime carried 15 times for 72 yards and one touchdown for New Orleans, and Chris Olave caught 7 passes for 98 yards. For Cleveland, Denzel Boston caught 6 passes for 98 yards, and Fannin finished with 2 catches for 42 yards and the overtime touchdown.

Both kickers carried a heavy load in a tight game. Smyth made three field goals for New Orleans, from 30, 27 and 48 yards, on four attempts. Szmyt made all three of his attempts for Cleveland, from 41, 30 and 51 yards, with the last one forcing overtime. The quarter scores showed how close it stayed: New Orleans scored 3, 0, 3, 10 and 7 across the four quarters and overtime, while Cleveland scored 0, 3, 3, 10 and 6.

Concepcion left the game with a right leg injury in the third quarter, and the Browns announced no diagnosis.