The New Orleans Saints found their third win of the season on Sunday, beating the Cleveland Browns en route to taking the lead in the NFC South.
The win wasn’t pretty, and there’s plenty to work on, but there is light at the end of the tunnel after New Orleans’ victory out of the bye.
Winner: RB Audric Estime
Just two weeks ago, the Saints running backs ran for 11 rushing yards on 14 attempts. Going into the bye, that was the only conversation surrounding the Saints. They couldn’t run the ball all season, and it was on full
display in another country.
Coming out of the bye, the Saints lucked out and found a way to bring running back Audric Estime back on waivers. In his first game back with New Orleans, Estime ran for 72 yards on 15 carries, averaging 4.8 yards per carry and scoring a touchdown.
While Travis Etienne’s return is on the horizon, Estime has likely found a role with the Saints where he’ll handle the bulk of the carries until he comes back.
Winner: DE Carl Granderson
Phew. The Saints have a dangerous pass rush combo. We all knew about Chase Young, who has 8 sacks in 8 games this season. But Carl Granderson has feasted off the attention Young brings and has brought his season sack total to 7.5 sacks.
In the win against the Browns, Granderson logged 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss. He was a game changer for the Saints on Sunday, and entered the week with a chip on his shoulder after a viral video of Shedeur Sanders seemingly laughing when asked a question about the Saints’ defense.
While Sanders says he wasn’t laughing at the Saints’ defense, it opened the opportunity to add more motivation for the defense, and Granderson himself took it personally. If the former undrafted free agent can continue to play like this, New Orleans will end the season with two of the top three sack leaders.
Loser: Saints’ Secondary
Sunday’s matchup against the Browns was favored for the Saints secondary, who were facing a second-year quarterback in Sanders. The 2025 fifth-round pick got his first start of the 2026 season and faced the fierce Saints pass rush.
The Saints pass rush did their job, but the secondary was outplayed in the biggest moments. From Denzel Boston missing Kool-Aid McKinstry to Julian Blackmon and Martin Emerson Jr. failing to tackle KC Concepcion after allowing a big catch that turned into a touchdown, we didn’t see the plays we needed from the secondary against Tetairoa McMillan.
Loser: The Turnover Battle
What stands out the most for me, however, is the Saints’ inability to force takeaways. This was a prime opportunity to force takeaways and come away with a dominant win. New Orleans, however, lost the turnover battle, losing two fumbles and not forcing any turnovers themselves.
From Jordyn Tyson’s first reception turning into a fumble three yards from the end zone, to Barion Brown running backwards before losing the ball himself, the Saints are beating themselves. The Saints are -6 on the season in the turnover battle, and it continues to get further away from them.
