Browns winners-losers against Saints: It's time to evaluate the roster for next season
The Browns should have won on Sunday, but they only have themselves to blame.
Against a three-win Saints team, the Browns failed at the easy things. They couldn't convert on a two-point conversion in the first half. Kicker Dustin Hopkins missed two field goals. Quarterback Jameis Winston missed some easy passes. The defense gave up several big plays.
All that resulted in the Browns losing and falling to 2-8 for the season and the Saints winning and going to 4-7.
Here are some winners and losers from Sunday's game:
Loser: The game plan against Taysom Hill
Whatever plan the Browns had in place for Saints offensive weapon Taysom Hill didn't work. The do-everything former collegiate quarterback ran the ball, caught the ball and completely made the Browns desperately miss linebacker Jeremish Owusu-Koramoah. It's hard to see the linebacker, who is out with a neck injury, lose sight of Hill the way of the Browns defense often did on Sunday. Hill topped it off in the fourth quarter with a 75-yard touchdown run.
Sure, Hill had two turnovers in the first half, but the Browns didn't have an answers for the gadgetry the Saints deployed. Look at this oddball stat line for Hill on Sunday:
- 18 yards passing and an interception
- 138 rushing yards, three touchdowns and a fumble
- 50 receiving yards
Winner: Browns pass catchers
It didn't matter if you were a tight end or a wide receiver for the Browns on Sunday. Whatever the position, they got yards. Four Browns pass catchers had at least 45 yards. Jerry Jeudy had an especially strong game with 142 yards and a touchdown on six receptions — though he had 127 of those yards in the first half. Tight end David Njoku had arguably his best game of the season with nine receptions on nine targets for 81 yards.
Loser: The Browns running game
When the Browns are at their best it's when the running game is functioning at a high level. That didn't happen Sunday. Nick Chubb had arguably his best game back from a devastating knee injury, running the ball for 50 yards on 11 carries. But, as a whole, the Browns only ran for 66 yards. Saints running back Alvin Kamara had a yard more than that himself, and he wasn't even the leading rusher for New Orleans.
Loser: Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins
In the offseason the Browns gave Hopkins a three-year contract extension. He didn't do much to earn it on Sunday. In the first half Hopkins missed two field goals. He missed another that was called back because of a holding penalty on the Saints. Each of the misses went wide left of the uprights.
Loser: Analyzing young Browns players
Face it, with their record, the Browns are in roster evaluation mode. One of the biggest evaluations is on offensive tackle Dawand Jones. The monstrous blocker from Ohio State went down in the first half of Sunday's game and is out for the season. Is he a right tackle or a left tackle? It's hard to say at this point. He's not the only young player the Browns need to figure out.
Wide receivers Kadarius Toney and Jabari Thrash are interesting, but haven't done much of anything. They combined for a single target on Sunday. Fellow receiver Cedric Tillman looks like a keeper. Backup quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson needs to get more reps, and he did on Sunday when the game was out of hand. Defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. is intriguing, but he's on injured reserve. Offensive guard Zak Zinter has been in and out of the lineup, and has struggled as a rookie.
The Browns need to figure out these young players, but it's difficult when they're on the sidelines.