The Saints spent some time in Paris, but the tape from their showdown with the Browns in Week 9 won't be headed to the Louvre.
It was a field goal fest until a flurry of touchdowns over the final few minutes. There were brutal turnovers, missed opportunities and missed tackles. But in the end it was the Saints on the right side of a 23-22 win when they shut down Browns 2-point attempt for the win. The Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert is as excited to celebrate an ugly win as any other, but there's still a lot of room to improve.
“The bottom line, did you win or lose the game," Hebert said, "but damn, that was an ugly game. It looked like two bad teams, I don’t know how the Browns won five games this year."
Hear the full postgame rant from Bobby Hebert in the play above.
The Saints did appear to be the better team, but that didn't show on the scoreboard due to ill-timed mistakes. The most notable was a fumble at the 2 yard line by Jordyn Tyson as he made his first career catch in the NFL debut for the No. 8 overall pick. We also saw rookie WR Barion Brown fumble a punt just a few plays later. There was a missed 52-yard field goal by Charlie Smyth and the Saints failed to score a TD on their first three red zone trips of the game.
It was the first time in the Kellen Moore head coaching era that the Saints won a game that they lost the turnover margin. They had been 0-12 going into the game.
“We are leading the league in fumbles," Hebert said. "You’ve got to protect the football like it’s gold.”
But at the end of the day, the Saints got the win, and at 3-5 they're -- believe it or not -- sitting in a tie for first place in the NFC South with the Carolina Panthers, the team that's next up on the Saints schedule. The winner of that game will be alone in first place. Despite a brutal start to the season, the Saints have everything out in front of them, though they'll likely need better performances to be able to say that for much longer.
"It was exciting at the end, but we had to win this game. The Saints had to win the game," Hebert continued. "I think somewhat, it gives you hope. You always want hope as a fanbase."
