New Orleans Saints vs Cleveland Browns Recap – First Half Report
It seems like it's all over for the Saints. The champions aren’t even looking like contenders for the playoffs this year. They have so far lost 3 out of their 7 games with the latest defeat coming on Sunday at the hands of Cleveland Browns.
The Browns haven’t had a better season either. The win over New Orleans is only their second victory in this season. Cleveland had earlier defeated Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth week.
Against the Saints, Cleveland got off to a good start and never looked back. Rookie quarterback, Colt McCoy and Peyton Hillis combined threw just 91 yards passing against Drew Brees’ phenomenal 356 yards. Somehow, the Browns still managed to win. The first
points that they put on the board came off an amazing punt return. New Orleans had started on the 20 yard line and were forced to punt on the 33.
Wide receiver, Josh Cribbs caught the ball and rushed it 7 yards. He then threw a lateral pass to Eric Wright when the Saints began to converge on him. Wright ran the ball into the end zone for 62 yards. McCoy opened the drive with a 13 yard pass and got
within 11 yards of touchdown. Still, the Saints wouldn’t concede and eventually Cleveland had to take the field goal.
Brees wasn’t on top of his game as following the touchdown; he got sacked and fumbled the ball in successive plays, forcing New Orleans to punt from 24 yard line. The 49 yard kick was returned for 17 yards and the Browns started offence in New Orleans' half.
McCoy again didn’t had to do much passing. Hillis rushed 8 and 6 yards before a 38 yards pass interference penalty put Cleveland just four yards short of touchdown. Hillis then rushed the final four yards for touchdown. The Browns now stood at 10 against
nothing but interestingly, McCoy had so far passed only 17 yards.
When New Orleans got back on offence, Brees was sacked once again. The Saints tried to get on with the rushing game with running back, Chris Ivory but that too wasn’t working. In five plays, Chris was able to run for just 14 yards. Together though,
New Orleans somehow continued to advance. From the 20 yard line, Brees threw a touchdown pass but that too was nullified by a penalty. The drive continued into the second quarter but ended without any points for the Saints following an interception. Ladell
Betts was the intended target but Scott Fujita intercepted the pass. Though Cleveland proved unable to score off this turnover, more opportunities would still come their way.
This is pretty much how Saints lost the game. Even though Brees threw a lot more yards, they gave up too many turnovers. Late into the second quarter, Brees was intercepted again. Cleveland’s defence had broken through to Brees and before he could be sacked
again, the quarterback threw the pass. Although, he didn’t really have a target, he threw it down field anyway and David Bowens caught it.
Bowens ran the ball to touchdown hardly facing any resistance. It shouldn’t even be called a run; it was more of a prance into the end zone. This was Bowens’ first touchdown in 11 NFL seasons. “You don't dream of games like that,” Bowens said later. “You
don't ever think anything is going to happen like that. It's unbelievable.”
Brees' run of mistakes wasn’t over yet. As soon as he got back on the field, he was sacked and a play later he was intercepted again. This time though the Browns weren’t able to make anything of the turnover. By the end of second quarter, Browns led 20 against
just 3.
In terms of Yards, New Orleans had a clear lead. However, Browns were still able to stop the points. They sacked the quarterback, created opportunities and made the most out of the turnovers and penalties. Saints would really need to romp it up in the second
half to win the game.
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