Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #4Downs where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the New Orleans Saints! This week, I look at the Saints nailbiter of a win over the Cleveland Browns.
1st Down: Browns Gonna Browns
After tying the Pittsburgh Steelers last week after seemingly having the game in hand after an interception late in the overtime period, it felt like maybe the Browns weren’t going to be horrible. Well, the Browns history of ineptitude continued and the big culprit was Zane Gonzalez. He missed not one, but two extra points and a field goal in the final seconds that would have tied things up.
Just when you think you’ve seen the most Browns thing ever, you see this. I’m not sure if the Browns can be this bad two straight years or if it’s just bad luck at this point.
2nd Down: Offensive Line Woes
The offensive line is having a rough start to the 2018 season. Last year, they looked about as good as they ever have thanks in large part to the balance the Saints offense had and it feels like they can’t get it together through two weeks.
This week, the run game had a hard time getting out of first gear only getting 62 total yards on the ground. That once again forced Brees to go full Brees and that led to him getting sacked three times.
3rd Down: Ball Control Still Issue
Thankfully, the Browns ineptitude prevented them from getting six points on the Saints fumbles, but it’s still an issue two weeks in with a pair of fumbles by Michael Thomas and Ted Ginn Jr. Again, they didn’t had a big impact on the ballgame, but not nearly the same as we saw from when the Bucs recovered a fumble by Gillislee and took it to the house.
Doing this against some of the opponents the Saints have on the schedule is going to wind up hurting their chances of getting a win.
4th Down: Marcus Williams Redemption Tour?
We all remember what happened to him in the NFC Divisional Round. The NFL has played that clip so much, it’s ingrained in every Saints fan’s brain much like the John Carney missed extra point after the River City Relay. Anyway, Marcus Williams may have started his redemption tour on Sunday with an interception that he took to the Browns 18-yard line and that led to the Saints getting it within two points.
It was probably the key play of the ballgame for New Orleans and it shows that Williams looks to be over that moment in Minnesota back in January.
Extra Point: Bucs Loss Doesn’t Look So Bad Now
It’s a tradition unlike any other; the immediate overreaction to a season-opening loss. That’s exactly how things went last Sunday when the Saints lost to a Buccaneers team sans Jameis Winston. Well, that loss doesn’t look as bad when you have Fitzmagic keep rolling against the defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles with some phenomenal touchdown passes for a second straight week.
Perhaps, Ryan Fitzpatrick is the future of Tampa Bay’s offense after all. Then again, this continues a vicious cycle that sees Fitzpatrick secure a starting spot, get paid an exorbitant amount of money, underperforms, and gets cut. Maybe Dirk Koetter can use the positives that he has to his advantage.
-Clint Domingue