Ex-Saints QB Jameis Winston returns to New Orleans with the Browns

Cleveland (2-7) at New Orleans (3-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, Fox.

BetMGM NFL Odds: Saints by 1.

Against the spread: Browns 3-6; Saints 4-6.

Series record: Browns lead 13-6.

Last meeting: Saints won 17-10 at Cleveland on Dec. 24, 2022.

Last week: Browns were off; Saints beat Falcons 20-17.

Browns offense: overall (31), rush (28), pass (28), scoring (29).

Browns defense: overall (16), rush (14), pass (13), scoring (21).

Saints offense: overall (16), rush (13), pass (16), scoring (16).

Saints defense: overall (28), rush (27), pass (29), scoring (t23).

Turnover differential: Browns minus-7; Saints plus-4.

Browns player to watch

It's something of a homecoming for QB Jameis Winston, who spent four seasons with the Saints from 2020-23. Winston was popular among his teammates and the team's fan base, but didn't always see eye to eye with former coach Dennis Allen, who was recently fired. This will be Winston's third start for Cleveland since taking over when Deshaun Watson sustained a season-ending injury.

Saints player to watch

Versatile, 29-year-old RB Alvin Kamara, now in his eighth NFL season, became the Saints career leading rusher last week (6,544 yards), and has surpassed 100 yards from scrimmage in seven of 10 games this season, including his 109 yards from scrimmage last week.

Key matchup

Saints rookie LT Taliese Fuaga vs. Browns star DE Myles Garrett. The 22-year-old Fuaga faces the toughest test of his young career in Garrett, the reigning AP Defensive Player of the Year who is well rested, coming off a big performance and determined to get Cleveland's season turned around.

Key injuries

Browns: The bye week helped as the Browns are as healthy as they've been in weeks. ... LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (neck) was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least three more games. ... LB Jordan Hicks (elbow) is back after missing four of the past five games. ... Saints C Erik McCoy is expected to play for the first time since his Week 3 groin injury. ... OL Lucas Patrick has continues to labor through an ankle injury... RB Jamaal Williams has been sidelined from practice by a groin injury. ... LB Pete Werner has a hand injury and it wasn't clear this week whether he'd be able to play through it.

Series notes

The Browns won their first eight games against the Saints from 1967-81. ... Cleveland is 8-3 at New Orleans. ... The Browns lost their previous visit to the Superdome in 2018. ... Most of the matchups have been competitive with 12 games decided by seven points or fewer.

Stats and stuff

The Browns are looking to revive a sinking season that began with Super Bowl aspirations. ... Winston's two starts have been polar opposites — 334 yards, 3 TDs in a debut win over Baltimore; three interceptions in a loss to the Chargers. ... Cleveland's running game has been disappointing but could find some traction now that RB Nick Chubb is feeling more comfortable after being sidelined the first six weeks following knee surgery. Chubb's next TD run will be the 50th of his career. ...Second-year WR Cedric Tillman's development has been one of the few bright spots this season. Tillman leads the Browns with three receiving TDs — all in the past two games. ... Cleveland's defense has had just one interception, but CB Denzel Ward leads the NFL with 15 passes defensed, including one each of the past nine games. He's the only player in the league with 10 passes defensed in each of the past seven seasons. ... Garrett had three sacks — his fourth career game with at least that many — against the Chargers two weeks ago. ... Garrett's 95 1/2 sacks since 2017 are the league's second most behind Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt (103). ... The Browns have gone 20 straight games without allowing a quarterback to pass for 300 yards ... Cleveland's defense has done a good job getting off the field in the second half, limiting teams to a league-low 21.6% conversion rate on third down (11 of 51). ... Saints QB Derek Carr passed for 269 yards and two TDs for a 126.9 rating in Week 10. ... Carr is 4-1 with 1,426 pass yards in five career starts vs. Cleveland and has a TD pass in five straight games against the Browns. ... RB Alvin Kamara has 100-plus scrimmage yards in three straight games. ... Kamara became the first RB with five-plus catches in seven straight games since Christian McCaffrey in 2019 and Kamara is the fifth RB in NFL history with 400-plus yards receiving in eight seasons. ... WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling had a season-high 109 yards receiving and two TDs in Week 10, his second-career game with two TDs. ... TE Taysom Hill had 56 yards and a TD rushing in these clubs’ previous meeting. ... TE Foster Moreau had seven catches in his previous game vs. Cleveland (on Dec. 20, 2021 with the Raiders). ... DE Cameron Jordan had his first sack this season last week. ... DE Payton Turner had a forced fumble, a pass defensed and his fifth career sack last week. ... DL Chase Young had a sack and his first forced fumble of the season in Week 10. ... LB Demario Davis led the Saints with 10 tackles and has a tackle for loss in two of his past three games against the Browns, a team for which he played in 2016. ... LB Pete Werner had five tackles and his first pass defensed of the season last week. ... Werner has a tackle for loss in two of his past three games. ... S Tyrann Mathieu had an interception and three passes defensed last week. He has three interceptions in 2024, his sixth straight season with at least that many.

Fantasy tip

Tillman's role expanded the moment the Browns traded No. 1 receiver Amari Cooper to Buffalo last month, and the second-year WR has embraced the opportunity. He's got 21 catches in his past three games and could be in line for another big performance against a Saints defense that ranks near the bottom of the NFL against the pass.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

The Associated Press