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Game Recap: New Orleans Saints 23, Cleveland Browns 22, overtime | 2026 NFL Week 9

Saints come back for first home win of 2026

Nov 08, 2026 at 03:34 PM

The New Orleans Saints secured their first home win of the 2026 season with a 23-22 overtime victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at the Caesars Superdome.

The winning score came on a 15-yard touchdown catch by tight end Juwan Johnson with 4:17 to play in overtime. The Browns marched down the field and scored on a 39-yard touchdown pass to tight end Harold Fannin Jr. with 1:00 to play but their two-point attempt failed, giving the Saints the victory.

The victory improved the Saints, coming off of their bye week, to 3-5 and 1-3 at home. The loss dropped the Browns to 5-4. Pending the result of "Sunday Night Football," the Saints are tied for first in the NFC South.

Saints quarterback Tyler Shough was 21 of 35 for 265 yards and a touchdown. He scrambled 10 times for 51 yards. He was sacked five times. Running back Audric Estiméhad 15 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown while Alvin Kamara came alive in overtime and had six carries for 32 yards. Receiver Chris Olave had seven receptions for 98 yards including a clutch 33-yard reception to set up Estime's score.

Down four, with one minute and 48 seconds to play in regulation and with the team's starting center on the sideline, Shough led a 55-yard scoring drive, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run Estime.

The score gave the Saints a 16-13 lead but the Browns had 53 seconds left and drove down the field for a 51-yard Andre Szmyt field goal to force overtime (his third of the game).

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The Saints grabbed a 9-6 lead in the fourth quarter on Charlie Smyth's third field goal (48 yards) but Cleveland quarterback Shedeur Sanders immediately struck back, connecting with KC Concepcion on a 64-yard touchdown pass for a 13-9 lead with 5:21 to play.

The game marked the debut of Saints receiver Jordyn Tyson , the team's first round draft pick in 2026. Left tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., the team's first round draft pick in 2025, returned to the lineup after missing five games with an ankle sprain. Tyson caught his first pass in the second quarter but the ball was punched out, ending a Saints scoring chance at the 1-yard line with eight minutes left in the second quarter. Tyson finished with four catches for 30 yards.

Sanders, playing in place of an injured Deshaun Watson, was 19 of 31 for 297 yards and two touchdowns. He ran 10 times for 28 yards. The Saints sacked him five times. Edge rusher Carl Granderson had two sacks. He is now the only Saint to have more than one sack in four consecutive games and the first player in the NFL to do so since 2013. His defensive colleagues also got in on the action as Chase Young, Kaden Elliss and Khristian Boyd also sacked Sanders.

Center Erik McCoy left with a biceps injury late in the fourth quarter.

This was the Saints' second overtime game of 2026. The first was a 31-30 loss to the Detroit Lions in the opener.

New Orleans will play host to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 15.