This week, the New Orleans Saints will return to action to face the Cleveland Browns at Caesars Superdome in Week 9 of the 2026 regular season. To break it down, Chris Pokorny of Dawgs By Nature joins us to preview this weekend’s matchup.
NJ: How would you evaluate Todd Monken’s first season as the Browns’ head coach? What have been the biggest positives and negatives since his arrival in Cleveland?
CP: It certainly got off to a rocky start after the Browns were blown out with no answers in Week 1
against the Jaguars. After that, though, things have been much better, to the point where he was getting coach of the year recognition (prior to the second blowout loss against Pittsburgh last week). I wouldn’t say he’s an amazing coach, but he’s gotten some good out of Deshaun Watson, which not many people thought was possible. As a team in general, and this extends to defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg too, the thing I’ve liked the most is that we’ve seen some week-to-week and in-game adjustments, which is something the previous coaching staff didn’t do well.
In terms of negatives, there are a few things that Monken hasn’t been able to figure out: how to prevent Watson from getting sacked at a near-record pace, and how to cut out the high number of penalties. I don’t know if either of those is really an indictment on Monken, though, especially since the offensive line has played at what I would call a fair level this season. Cleveland has also had the benefit of an ‘easy schedule,’ so I’d give him like a B- so far in his first year as a head coach.
NJ: Who are some notable names who will be sidelined for the Browns on Sunday against the Saints? Is there a particular area in which New Orleans could exploit?
CP: Obviously, it’s looking like Deshaun Watson will be out as he is in the concussion protocol. All things considered, though, Cleveland has been relatively healthy this season. The player I might look at is second-year linebacker Carson Schwesinger. He is the type of player who could be a future All-Pro, and has had games where he lights it up. But, he also has a warrior mentality to where he’ll play through injuries. He’s been dealing with an ankle injury, and while it didn’t seem to hinder him previously, last week against the Steelers, he had an awful day in coverage, grading out as a 30.5 by Pro Football Focus. He had low marks across the board,
grading poorly in run defense, tackling, pass rush, and coverage.
It’s possible that was an anomaly, and that targeting Schwesinger might actually be a mistake, given his overall body of work. But it’s worth pointing out, given what happened last week. If we’re not talking about injuries, the area the Saints should try to explore is the Browns’ run defense. It has become a real liability lately, with the Titans and Steelers shredding it and the Browns not having any answers. Cleveland’s coaching staff talked about what went wrong this past week from a strategic standpoint against the run, so we’re hoping to see adjustments. But Cleveland’s pass defense is very sound, so the Saints — despite their struggles on the ground — are far better suited trying to capitalize on what’s worked for others lately via the ground game.
NJ: With Shedeur Sanders in line to start on Sunday in New Orleans, how confident are you in his ability to operate the offense and rally his teammates?
CP: Deshaun Watson has looked way better this season than he has in previous seasons with the Browns, and his knack for leading a game-winning drive — he’s done it in all five victories — can’t be denied. With that said, though, he’s still been a below average quarterback in my book because things are generally still a bit slow to process. At times, he seems timid to make a mistake downfield, which is both a good and bad thing. Worst of all is the inconsistency, though. Most weeks, it seems like the offense goes cold for three of the game’s four quarters, before finding a spark in one of the quarters. There isn’t a consistent rhythm. That’s not all on Watson, but I think a lot of it is.
My point in mentioning all of that is that, despite Watson’s 5-3 record, I can’t really see it being ‘worse’ for Shedeur Sanders, per se. I mean, Watson hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in three straight games. Last year, we saw a mix of good and bad for Sanders, but that also came behind a much worse offensive line in my opinion. I’m intrigued to see how Sanders plays with the Browns’ young weapons this year. One of Sanders’ biggest issues in the past has been backpedaling too much on third downs to try to avoid pressure, and it just leads to a bigger sack. He got better at it during the regular season last year, but because it’s been so long since he’s faced live game action, it’s possible that those tendencies will creep up again. Back in training camp, I thought he flashed some good chemistry with rookie WR KC Concepcion when they got reps together, which is a plus. Overall, I have like an average level of confidence that he’ll operate the offense fine. I don’t know about rallying his teammates. I’m not expecting a Gardner Minshew moment where he comes in and leads touchdown drives left and right, but I’m expecting him to keep us in the game at least as much as Watson would have.
NJ: Who is one Browns player you think Saints fans should keep an eye on Sunday—someone who may not receive much national attention but could have a strong performance?
CP: I’ll go with tight end Harold Fannin. After a little lull where he only had 2 catches in 2 games, he’s had 16 catches for 245 yards in the last 2 games. He catches the ball well, and always has a knack for gaining an extra few yards after contact, no matter which defender is tackling him. In 7 games with Sanders last year at quarterback, Fannin had 4 touchdown receptions and a fair amount of targets week-to-week, so I’m expecting some of that hookup to continue this week.
NJ: According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Saints (-164) are currently 3.0-point favorites over the Browns (+138) in Sunday’s matchup; what is your final score prediction and how do you see the game playing out?
CP: It looks like the line shifted to +3, possibly with the news of Watson being in the concussion protocol. This is the end of a three-game road stretch for Cleveland, and they’re coming off of a bad loss. Also, in the Browns’ five victories this season, none of them have been by more than 4 points. On paper, I tell myself that Cleveland’s offense will find some success, since the Saints are allowing nearly 28 points per game. Although the Browns’ run defense has suffered lately, I think it’ll be a point of emphasis in the film room this week, and New Orleans has not had a lot of success in that area. If New Orleans stays one-dimensional, Cleveland is tough to pass the ball on consistently, so I see the potential for this week’s game being advantageous to the Browns. I’ll go with the Browns coming out on top 20-17.
Thank you again to Chris Pokorny for joining us to preview this week’s matchup! You can check out the rest of his work here.
