Jameis Winston smiled and hugged his former New Orleans Saints teammates, looking almost proud as he waved to the fans on his way off the Superdome field.
The Browns lost 35-14 to the Saints on Sunday, fading in the fourth quarter after coming back to tie the game in the third. However, Winston had a solid performance.
He threw for 395 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in his first game back at the Superdome since leaving New Orleans for Cleveland last offseason.
“We did some good things, but every week you do good things,” Winston said. “We have to find a way to finish drives so we can end up celebrating.” The Browns (2-8) are struggling after last year’s 11-6 record.
Their latest collapse started with Taysom Hill’s 33-yard touchdown run off a direct snap on fourth-and-1 with 13:22 left. A 53-yard punt return by Dante Pettis set up a 1-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Juwan Johnson to extend the lead.
Hill sealed the game with a career-long 75-yard run late in the game.
Winston appreciated the warm reception from the fans after spending four years with the Saints. During that time, he was mostly a backup, even though he started in 2021 and 2022. He was hoping for a better result in his third start filling in for Deshaun Watson, who tore his right Achilles tendon against Cincinnati on October 20.
After a rough performance with three interceptions and six sacks in a 27-10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers the previous week, Winston bounced back in New Orleans with his best passing performance since his time with Tampa Bay in 2019.
He made a great play in the first quarter, scrambling to his left before throwing an 89-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy. He also hit Elijah Moore with a perfect 30-yard throw to the back of the end zone in the third quarter.
A 2-point conversion pass to tight end David Njoku tied the game, but things didn’t go well for Cleveland after that.
Winston’s next two deep throws into double coverage were unsuccessful, resulting in a punt. A false-start penalty and two consecutive sacks stalled their next drive. Winston’s final pass, a fourth-down fade to Cedric Tillman, sailed far out of bounds with 2:43 left in the game.
“Jameis is going to all of a sudden take those shots down the field,” said New Orleans coach Darren Rizzi. “We did a really good job defending a couple of those in the second half. You’re always worried, even when we went up 14. It’s kind of like, we can’t have explosives here.”
Winston’s completion to Jeudy in the first quarter was the longest of his NFL career.
Even with the Browns gaining 443 yards, they only scored two touchdowns.
“A hundred yards of offense you’d think is roughly seven points,” said guard Wyatt Teller. “So when you have 400, you’d think you’d have at least 28 points and be good enough to win. We just didn’t execute, and we didn’t finish.”
Kicker Dustin Hopkins also struggled. He missed a 51-yard field goal that would have given the Browns a 9-7 lead. Then, after missing a 32-yard attempt late in the first half, he got a temporary second chance when the Saints were penalized. However, his 27-yard attempt went wide left.
Before this game, Hopkins had been 64 of 65 from inside 30 yards in his career.
“He needs to make those kicks,” said Browns coach Kevin Stefanski. “He knows that. He’s been in this league for a long time, and I believe he will fix that issue that he had.”
The Browns’ defense also struggled, allowing Hill to set career highs in rushing yards (138) and touchdowns (three) on just seven carries, most of which came on direct snaps.
“It’s just not doing what we’re supposed to do,” said defensive end Myles Garrett, who also didn’t get a sack in the game.
Garrett added, “Hill is one of the guys who’s integral to what they do with their offense, so we knew beforehand we needed to take care of it. We didn’t accomplish that.”
Cleveland also played without left tackle Dawand Jones, who fractured his left leg in the first half. Jones will now be out for the rest of the season. He had been filling in for Jedrick Wills Jr., who is recovering from a knee injury.
“He knew it right away, and I feel bad for him,” Stefanski said of Jones. “I felt he was doing some decent things over there.”
