Browns lose Cleveland’s second-coldest home game to Saints
CLEVELAND ― Running back Kareem Hunt characterized the ball as “a big block of ice.”
Tight end David Njoku and rookie wide receiver David Bell explained they still should have caught it during key plays and made no excuses for dropped passes.
Snow on the field caused receiver Amari Cooper to slip and fall in the back of the end zone, interfering with his attempt at a wide-open touchdown catch.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson described how the wind on Cleveland’s lakefront played different tricks on him depending on the side of the field.
The Browns blew a 10-point lead and fell 17-10 to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium in the second-coldest home game in Cleveland’s history, according to the team.
The game-time temperature was 6 degrees with a real feel of minus-16, the Browns announced. The only colder temperature at kickoff was 1 degree on Jan. 4, 1981, a 14-12 loss to the Oakland Raiders, otherwise known as the “Red Right 88” playoff game.
This time, a defeat mathematically eliminated the Browns (6-9) from being able to earn a postseason berth. The elements were a major factor, but the Saints (6-9) played in them, too.
Several Browns players said the Cleveland equipment staff succeeded in helping them combat the Arctic-like temperatures. Layers of clothing, hand warmers, heated benches and heaters on the sideline were vital.
“It was cold,” Hunt said. “The first thing was your hands – you’ve got to keep those warm. That’s the biggest thing. Other than that, it’s football. You’ve got to find a way to make plays and play through that.”
Njoku dropped a pass at the goal line on third-and-10 from the New Orleans 15-yard line with 26 seconds left in the fourth quarter, prompting the tight end who went shirtless during pregame warm-ups to apologize to Watson in the locker room after the game. On fourth down, Watson took a sack for a turnover on downs, sealing the Saints’ win with 19 seconds remaining.
Earlier, the ball deflected off Bell and into the hands of safety Daniel Sorensen for an interception. Sorensen returned the pick 36 yards to the Cleveland 15, and running back Alvin Kamara rushed for a 4-yard touchdown four plays later. The score allowed the Saints to go ahead 17-10 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.
Bell said he refuses to use the conditions as an excuse. He caught an 18-yard pass on the Browns’ final possession, but Watson’s interception on a pass to Bell still haunted Cleveland.
“We are the best of the best, the [top] 1% in the world,” Bell said. “We get blessed to do this, and with things like that, no matter the weather and stuff like that, you’ve got to be able to be able to adjust. It sucks that happened. It sucks that I wasn’t able to come down with it. And also it sucks that we couldn’t pull off the win there.”
On their penultimate possession, the Browns needed 2 yards on third and fourth down from their 39-yard line to gain a first down. Watson threw the ball away on third down, and his fourth-down pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones was high and fell incomplete for a turnover on downs with 6:55 left.
Watson said the wind affected the pass to Peoples-Jones and it also caused the ball to sail on a deep throw to Cooper on second-and-8 early in the fourth quarter.