The Browns gave their frozen fans nothing but a lump of coal on Christmas Eve with a 17-10 loss to the Saints at frozen FirstEnergy Stadium after leading 10-0 in the second quarter. The loss dropped the Browns to 6-9 and eliminated them playoff contention once and for all. The Saints improved to 6-9 to keep their playoff hopes alive. Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson struggled in the frigid conditions, completing 15-of-31 attempts for 135 yards with no touchdowns and one interception for a 47.1 rating. He went ice-cold in the second half.

Nick Chubb rushed for 92 yards, but it wasn’t enough, as the Browns failed to score in the second half. Trailing 17-10, Watson took over at his 20 with 5:16 left and all three timeouts remaining. He shook off a sack and hit Amari Cooper with a 14-yard pass to the Saints 33 and the David Bell with an 18-yarder to the 15. But Watson threw three straight incompletions -- one pass to Cooper, and drops by Donovan Peoples-Jones and tight end David Njoku in the end zone -- and was sacked on fourth down to end the game. Watson struggled to hit his mark amid the fierce winds whipping off the lake, with gusts of more than 30 mph. Temperature at kickoff was 6 degrees, making it the coldest game in Browns history. Windchill made it feel like minus-16.

Next

The Browns visit the Washington Commanders on New Year’s Day. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

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