Saints offense vs. Browns defense

The New Orleans Saints hope to win their second straight game this Sunday when they host the Cleveland Browns. Last week, they beat the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 20-17 at home. This ended a seven-game losing streak, tied for the second-longest single-season losing streak in team history.

Last Sunday’s win was also the first game without the firing of coach Dennis Allen, who was fired the week before. He was replaced by special teams coach Darren Rizzi, with the Saints showing more passion and intensity than they had in more than two months.

New Orleans, now 3-7, opened the year with two explosive offensive performances. Since then, injuries and ineffective depth have taken their toll. Some key players have started to return, but the Saints will once again be noticeably shorthanded for this week’s game.

Cleveland, currently 2-7, had a defense that started the year with high expectations. The Browns haven’t reached the level they did last year on that side of the ball, but remain a unit capable of winning games.

Points scored: 16th (22.7/game)

Total yards: 16th (334.8 yards)

Pass: 16th (212.4)

Rushed: 13th (122.4)

Rushing average: 18th (4.3)

Third attempts: 17th

New Orleans ranks middle of the pack in almost every offensive category. Take out their explosive first two games of the year, and those overall numbers look very misleading. Of course, injuries also played a big role in their decline in performance.

Quarterback Derek Carr is back after a three-game absence earlier this year, allowing coordinator Klint Kubiak to open up the playbook a bit more. Carr has completed 67.4% of his throws with 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, but the protection up front was patchy at times.

New Orleans hopes to get C Erik McCoy (groin) back this week after missing nearly seven games. There was a stretch of the year where the Saints were without all three interior starters as well as two primary backups. This obviously affected pass protection, but also handcuffed the rushing attack. Quietly, young tackles Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning had solid years, but there were interior issues for most of the season.

Carr also had a depleted receiving corps to work with. Top players Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, along with rookie Bub Means, remain on injured reserve. Newly acquired veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling showed some explosiveness last week with three catches for 103 yards and two scores, providing a glimpse of hope for the future.

Veteran WR Cedrick Wilson showed little, nor did undrafted rookie Mason Tipton or Kevin Austin. Athletic TE Juwan Johnson remains extremely unreliable, while Foster Moreau is more effective as a blocker. With Olave and Shaheed out for an extended period of time, the team’s passing attack has often been very limited and predictable.

Taysom Hill is part of a long list of productive players who have missed time for the Saints. Hill’s absence actually highlighted how important his mere presence was to the offense. The versatile weapon has just 230 scrimmage yards on 23 touches in six games. However, he poses a real threat to defenses in several ways and from several different positions.

For much of this season, Alvin Kamara seemed to be the only weapon in the Saints offense. A patchwork offensive line, often unproductive receivers and a lack of backfield depth have made Kamara an even more important center for opposing defenses than usual. However, it remained effective.

Kamara has 715 rushing yards with six touchdowns, an average of 4.3 per attempt. He has another 421 yards and a score on a team-high 51 receptions. He has surpassed 100 scrimmage yards in seven games this year. In the three games Kamara didn’t reach 100 yards from scrimmage, the Saints averaged just 14 offensive points.

Don’t expect the reliance on Kamara to change soon, even if Hill is now healthy. Olave and Shaheed both remain out, while RB Kendre Miller is also still on injured reserve and Jamaal Williams appears to miss his third straight outing.

Points awarded: 21st (23.7)

Total yards: 15th (328.3)

against Pass: (205.7)

against race: 14th (122.5)

Rushing average: 19th (4.5)

Third attempts: 2nd

Like the offense they face this week, Cleveland ranks middle of the league in almost every defensive category. Much like the Saints, much more was expected of the Browns defensive unit.

Cleveland has only forced a turnover in three of its nine games this season. Their one interception and five forced turnovers are both the fewest in the NFL. They have a solid 27 sacks and 55 QB hits, but traded DE Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions.

Eighth-year DE Myles Garrett remains a force. The reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year has seven sacks, 15 QB hits and 29 pressures this season. He leads a formidable defensive line consisting of Dalvin Tomlinson, Ogbo Okoronko and Shelby Harris.

Outside linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, the Browns’ leading tackler, is on injured reserve. Jordan Hicks is great up the middle, but Cleveland’s linebacking corps as a group has consistently been out of position and overmatched athletically for much of this season.

The Browns have perhaps the best secondary talent in the league. However, the unit did not always live up to its potential. They have no interceptions as a group and have allowed six pass catchers to gain at least 70 yards, including four 100-yard outings. Only two opposing quarterbacks have thrown for more than 265 yards against Browns coverage, but they have been vulnerable to the big play.

Cornerback Denzel Ward was largely exceptional. Ward gave up less than a 44% completion percentage when targeted and broke up a league-best 15 passes. Martin Emerson and Greg Newsome are equally great, but have been targeted with much more success this season. Together, Emerson and Newsome allowed a 59.6 percent completion rate with just six pass breakups.

Cleveland has a solid team of safeties, but also a group that hasn’t lived up to its abilities. Grant Deplpit, Juan Thornhill, Ronnie Hickman and Rodney McLeod are active and physical. They were also extremely vulnerable on the play, as were the Browns linebackers.

New Orleans enters Sunday’s game after last week’s victory ended a seven-game losing streak. Cleveland, fresh off a bye, has lost six of its last seven outings. The matchup on this side of the ball between two units that had much higher expectations will likely determine the outcome of this game.