The Cleveland Browns were down one key offensive player against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Even so, they held their own pretty well without Deshaun Watson, taking Kellen Moore's team down to the wire in overtime.
It's tough to find a silver lining in a loss like this, one that ended on a failed two-point conversion try. Nevertheless, the Browns keep putting themselves in a position to win games every week.
There's still plenty to work on, but the Browns shouldn't beat themselves up too much over this one. Let's talk winners and losers from their wild 23-22 loss to the Saints in Week 9.
Browns' young offensive building blocks were impossible to miss in overtime heartbreak
Winner: Shedeur Sanders
Sanders wasn't perfect by any means, but he proved that he's as capable of running the offense as Watson is — if not more so.
He lit up the Saints' defense in the fourth quarter and overtime, and he looked much more in control in his first start of the 2026 season. If anything, Sanders made this a legitimate debate about who should be the starter going forward.
Loser: Deshaun Watson
By contrast, Watson has to be the biggest loser of the evening. The Browns didn't get the win, but it wasn't because of poor quarterback play, and you can even make a case for the offense looking better with No. 2 on the field.
Watson will likely keep his job, but the outside noise might get louder if he gets off to another slow start.
Winner: KC Concepcion
Concepcion is just special and tough. It seemed that he was about to miss the remainder of the game after being helped off the field, but not only did he return for the next offensive series, he also scored his first career touchdown.
Concepcion broke loose for a 64-yard score, finishing the game with four catches and 88 scrimmage yards.
Loser: Todd Monken
Cleveland's head coach showed (again) that he's not afraid to take risks, and we can respect him for that. That said, a tie would've been much better for his divisional aspirations than a loss.
That aside, the penalties (10 for 58 yards) held Monken's team back time and time again, and when a team suffers from the same issues regardless of who the quarterback is, that's usually on the head coach.
Winner: Denzel Boston
Boston was coming off consecutive quiet performances, so it was nice to see him make an impact early and often in this one.
He finished the game with six catches on seven targets for 98 yards, giving the team one of their two 60-plus-yard plays of the second half. He should still be featured more often in the red zone, though.
Winner: Jerry Jeudy
Once again, Jeudy showed up when it mattered most. He hadn't been targeted all day, but he secured a crucial 30-yard catch along the sideline to help set up Andre Szmyt's 51-yard field goal that forced overtime.
Jeudy continues to prove his value now just days before the NFL's trade deadline.
Loser: Jared Verse
Verse once again did plenty of talking to the media this week, but that's about it. He couldn't get to the quarterback and finished the game with just two tackles.
Patience is running out among Browns fans as Verse continues to search for his first sack, now nine games into the season.
Winner: Carson Schwesinger
Schwesinger hadn't been his usual self over the past couple of weeks, and while he denied his ankle injury had anything to do with that, he was clearly not as explosive. That's why it was so nice to see him get right back to his usual hard-hitting form in this one.
Schwesinger led the Browns with 15 total tackles (10 solo), including two tackles for loss, two sacks, and two quarterback hits.
Add us as a preferred source on Google