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NFL Week 11 Live Updates, Scores: Browns vs. Saints

Here's our Week 11 Saints game thread, as they do battle with the Browns at home.

John Hendrix

Dec 17, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) is congratulated by quarterback Jameis Winston (2) after a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Dec 17, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr (4) is congratulated by quarterback Jameis Winston (2) after a touchdown against the New York Giants during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
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NEW ORLEANS -- The Saints will have a bye week following Sunday's game against the Browns, and they look to go into it on a high note and build off Darren Rizzi's first week as interim head coach. Cleveland will prove to be an interesting test for New Orleans, but it looks and feels like one they're ready for. Welcome to our Week 11 weekly game thread, where you can get notes, observations, big plays and more each week.

Pregame Notes

  • The Saints get Erik McCoy, Nephi Sewell and Kool-Aid McKinstry back for Sunday's game, while Pete Werner will play despite the hand injury and sporting a club on his right hand. Sewell is a big special teams presence and showed he could fill in at linebacker before the unfortunate ACL injury.
  • Marquez Valdes-Scantling's emergence has essentially made Mason Tipton a little expendable, which is a reason why he's inactive. I thought Tipton could get some looks on the return team with Jermaine Jackson waived, but nope. New Orleans will have just four receivers active, with Cedrick Wilson Jr., Dante Pettis and Kevin Austin Jr. joining MVS.
  • I'm interested to see how Alontae Taylor responds after last week. We might get to see a glimpse into the future with Taylor and McKinstry playing at corner. Paulson Adebo is a free agent and has an uncertain future here, but it makes for an interesting decision if they can get what they need out of their young guys.
  • Will be interesting to see what Pete Werner's impact will be today with that club on his right hand. Darren Rizzi said he wanted to play all week. He caught a couple of balls during pregame warmup, so there's that.
  • Jameis Winston led the pregame huddle for the Browns and he was the first off the field when they went back to the locker room. He might downplay the emotions or significance of this one, but it would meann a lot to him to win.
  • Lots of Saints legends are in the building for Jahri Evans' ceremony for halftime. Drew Brees is one of them.

First Quarter - Saints 7, Browns 6

Scoring

  • Saints, 9:54 (6-49, 2:34) - Taysom Hill 10-yard run.
  • Browns, 1:52 (1-89, 0:15) - Jerry Jeudy 89-yard pass from Jameis Winston. 2-point attempt failed.

Notes

  • First couple of runs were successful for the Browns with Nick Chubb, which is something we were worried a little bit about.
  • Huge stuff by Demario Davis on the 4th-and-1 run play to Chubb with Alontae Taylor playing clean up. That's a great start for this Saints defense, as it was a 2-yard loss.
  • Really good first run by Alvin Kamara, picked up 13.
  • Good block by Taysom Hill on the pitch to Kamara on the ensuing play.
  • Awesome play design getting Taysom Hill to hit a wide open Kevin Austin Jr. for 18 yards to get the Saints into the red zone.
  • Taysom Hill gets to cap off the drive by getting into the end zone on a 10-yard run. That was a pretty drive.
  • Not an ideal way to start the ensuing possession with Will Harris picking up a personal foul penalty on the David Njoku hit. It looked like he was claiming shoulder at first, but the replay showed a little different.
  • Alontae Taylor looks good to start, and that's what you want to see after the outing against the Falcons last week.
  • Tyrann Mathieu may just get a pick on Jameis Winston before the day is over with.
  • Inside screen to AK goes for a nice gain of 18. That's the second time they've motioned Kevin Austin Jr. into the backfield. Klint Kubiak is getting a little creative.
  • The Trevor Penning holding call wiped out a Jordan Mims first down run. Kubiak responded with a nice screen play to Juwan Johnson on the next play that picked up 10.
  • Derek Carr picked up the 3rd Down play on a Tecmo Super Bowl play. Some of you will get that reference.
  • Big play on the 4th-and-1, but a Juwan Johnson holding call wipes it out. Foster Moreau was down after the big hookup, but got up and went into the medical tent.
  • Jameis Winston evades a sack and thenn hits a huge catch and run to Jerry Jeudy. Whew.
  • Saints got called for a neutral zone infraction on the PAT, which put the Browns offense on the field for a 2-point attempt. Cam Jordan had the pressure and Winston just threw it away and picked up an intentional grounding call.
  • This game just turned upside down. Saints came out aggressive with Taysom Hill throwing a deep ball to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but three Browns defenders were there. Denzel Ward had a pretty easy interception.
  • Foster Moreau is questionable to return with a shoulder injury.
  • Nice tackle for loss by Carl Granderson. Cam Jordan had the first shot at Kadarius Toney. Loses 7.
  • Could be me, but I've seen more motions from the receivers in the backfield in this game than I have in a lot of the previous ones. Is getting Erik McCoy back that big of a deal or is it more of how Kubiak is calling this game?
  • Dante Pettis with the 9-yard hookup from Carr to keep a good drive going.

Big Plays

Second Quarter - Saints 14, Browns 6

Scoring

  • Saints, 12:40 (3-80, 1:34) - Marquez Valdes-Scantling 71-yard pass from Derek Carr.

Notes

  • Holy crap that was a beautifully executed play on the 3rd-and-1 play from Carr to Valdes-Scantling. A really nice job by Juwan Johnson downfield as well for the catch and run for six.
  • Erik McCoy went into the injury tent for the Saints, came out and is now on a bike. That's one to watch, but he rejoined the sideline.
  • Curious to see how Alontae Taylor keeps his composure from play to play. He had a couple of rough ones but then made a really nice pass breakup despite what looked like him getting pushed off.
  • Nice job by the Saints pass rush to get home on Jameis Winston. Bryan Bresee ended up getting him with Carl Granderson right there.
  • Saints continue to get some Darren Rizzi magic with Dustin Hopkins' kick going wide left from 51 yards.
  • Foster Moreau is back in the game.
  • Gorgeous catch by Juwan Johnson on the 3rd-and-3 play to pick up 20. They've missed some of that.
  • Saints were threatening to get points before the half and picked up the 3rd-and-3 with Hill but he had the ball stripped. That's tough.
  • Jerry Jeudy is up to 3 catches for 123 yards and a score. That was a big conversion on the 3rd-and-5 play and he looked pretty wide open. Might wanna cover him.
  • Hate to see that for Dawand Jones. You could see the emotions from an apparent break.
  • That's really tough seeing Hopkins miss a field goal only for the Browns offense to go on the field because of a Payton Turner holding call.
  • Demario Davis had a really nice pass breakup in the end zone and almost had a pick on the play. Great response by the Saints defense.
  • Dustin Hopkins missed again, from 27 yards. That's insanity.

Big Plays

Third Quarter - Saints 14, Browns 14

Scoring

  • Browns, 8:49 - Elijah Moore 30-yard pass from Jameis Winston. 2-point attempt good to David Njoku.

Notes

  • Marquez Valdes-Scantling is giving off major Ted Ginn Jr. vibes here.
  • Taysom Hill was the lone tailback on the first two plays and he ended up getting the carry to follow up the MVS play to pick up 12 yards.
  • Good start to the Saints drive, but it stalls out.
  • Can't contain Nick Chubb all game, but hopefully that 14-yard run was all he gets. Browns have a good drive going right now.
  • Saints defense looked really flat on their first drive. There was little resistance from New Orleans. Pass rush isn't there.
  • Really nice adjustment by Foster Moreau. Saints across midfield after the 19-yard hookup.
  • Another drive stalls out. I'm not sure what's going on and why this keeps happening, but it's really going to spell the difference in whether or not they win or not.
  • Defense gets a much-needed stop, and now we'll see whether or not the offense can do anything with it.
  • Erik McCoy is not in the game. Shane Lemieux is. McCoy is on the sideline with a towel around his neck but no helmet. He's questionable to return with a groin injury.
  • Not a great way to start with Derek Carr being stripped. Saints recovered, but a loss of 7 after Trevor Penning got beat.
  • Carr to Taysom Hill for a Saints first down. They needed 13 and got 14.
  • Some good play action plays when it works, and that hookup from Carr to Moreau got them into Browns territory after a gain of 22.

Fourth Quarter - Saints 35, Browns 14

Scoring

  • Saints, 13:22 (9-77, 4:56) - Taysom Hill 33-yard run.
  • Saints, 6:04 (6-35, 2:56) - Juwan Johnson 1-yard pass from Derek Carr.
  • Saints, 2:26 (2-78, 0:17) - Taysom Hill 75-yard run.

Notes

  • When you're aggressive and it works, you are the hero. That was a heck of a call to go with Taysom Hill on 4th-and-1. He was patient and got the first down and found pay dirt. Saints offense needed to finish off that drive.
  • That would have been a huge pick for Ugo Amadi after the tip up in the air by David Njoku.
  • Two huge plays for the Saints defense, getting a split sack between Bryan Bresee and Chase Young that was followed up by a Carl Granderson sack on Winston.
  • Dante Pettis almost pulled off the tightrope for the punt return touchdown. That was as close as it gets.
  • Kamara had a really nice 18-yard run where he showed off some nice change of direction.
  • That's how you finish a drive. Carr to Johnson for six.
  • Good read on the screen play by Chase Young to drop Jerome Ford for a 4-yard loss. He came on late too.
  • Taysom Hill with the trifecta on the day after getting a 75-yard score. That was almost like the Browns gave up.

Big Plays

Published |Modified
John Hendrix
JOHN HENDRIX

I officially started covering the New Orleans Saints & other NFL topics in 2011. My work has been featured on various outlets over the years. I worked closely with Skyhorse Publishing in Fall 2018 to update the book, Tales From the New Orleans Saints Sidelines, which filled in all Saints material from the 2013-2017 seasons. Prior to joining Saints News Network, I served as the Managing Editor of SB Nation's Canal Street Chronicles for 3.5 years, and before that with FanSided's Who Dat Dish as the Managing Editor for several years. I have also had experiences of being a freelance Saints reporter for The Sun Herald in Biloxi, MS and a contributing writer for WDSU, a local NBC TV station in New Orleans. I have appeared on a vast amount of TV and Radio shows, both nationally and locally. For tips, comments, or suggestions, please contact me at johnhendrix@saintsnews.net

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