The New Orleans Saints just narrowly got out of Week 9 with a victory against the Cleveland Browns. The fourth quarter/overtime heroics from Tyler Shough and the offense helped them escape.
Conversation around the game centered around Shedeur Sanders is many ways. He made his first start, so rattling him was a priority, but he also made comments that invigorated the team.
“We seen him chirping. […] I think it’s disrespectful for somebody to laugh at our defense, to take us as a joke. So we went out and balled out.”#Saints EDGE Carl Granderson on #Browns QB Shedeur Sanders comments about the #Saints defense. pic.twitter.com/8Q8J6BV8yA
— NOF (@nofnetwork) November 8, 2026
Kellen Moore is the Saints biggest winner
Kellen Moore
Kellen Moore is arguably the biggest winner of this entire game with what was at stake. Moore could have lost his job this week with a bad performance. Things were looking dicey for the majority of the game, but the Saints pulled it out in the end.
Who knows if this would have been the game, but Moore is definitely in a safer position because he won. No one else’s job was potentially on the line, and that alone makes him the biggest winner.
Carl Granderson
Carl Granderson took an issue with Shedeur Sanders' comments, and he showed Sanders how he felt during the game. Granderson sacked Sanders twice and put pressure on him on multiple other situations.
Granderson nwas one of the biggest reasons the Saints were able to hold off the Browns in a low scoring affair. He recorded two of the Saints' five sacks on the day.
Audric Estime
Estime showed the Saints should have never let him go in his first game back in New Orleans. He had the best day by a Saints running back this year, including the most yards, tied for the longest run by a running back, and his 4.8 yards per carry is better than we’ve seen on that workload.
It’s clear the Saints will use Estime as the bellcow until Travis Etienne returns, and he justified that faith on Sunday. Estime ran physically and showed some burst en route to a 72 yard performance vs his previous team.
But did you see Harold Fannin's touchdown? Yikes
Charlie Smyth
This is a bit harsh, but you didn’t want to see any missed field goals after letting go of Daniel Carlson. Fans aren’t viewing Smyth with rose colored glasses because Carlson was cut. Rather, they’re hungry for good play from their kicker.
Smyth missed a 52-yard field goal. It’s not the end of the world, but it does put him under a microscope quickly. Moore has proven to be patient, but there should be no expectation for fans to follow suit.
Tackling
Tackling was rough in this game, and making it one of the losers allows us to lump in a few players who fell victim to it. Harold Fannin’s touchdown emphasized this issue. He stiff armed Justin Reid and Pete Werner in equally viscous fashion on the same play as he ran in for the overtime score.
It was Reid and Werner’s only missed tackle of the day, but it came at the worst time. Julian also missed 3 tackles including a poor angle on KC Concepcion catch that helped it go from a long reception to a long touchdown.
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