Browns not using cold as an excuse for loss to Saints

With a kickoff temperature of 6 degrees and real feel temperature of -16 degrees, nobody on the field had ever quite experienced a game setting quite as chilly as Saturday. The game was the coldest regular season home game in Browns history.

The conditions significantly impacted both offenses, with players slipping at times on the frozen, ice and snow-covered grass field and some passes sailing too far or falling too short of receivers.

No one on the Browns, however, was interested in using the frigid conditions as an excuse. The Saints had to deal with it, too, and they didn’t have the same benefit in New Orleans as the Browns did with being able to practice in the cold.

“(The weather) is obviously not ideal, but our guys hold themselves to a high standard and we expect to make plays,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said.

QB Deshaun Watson completed 15 of his 31 pass attempts for 135 yards, one interception and no passing touchdowns. He did score his first rushing touchdown of the season on a 12-yard scamper in the second quarter, but that was the only time the Browns found the end zone.

Watson said the wind, which appeared to blow stronger toward the west side of the field and away from the Dawg Pound end of the stadium, was a bigger factor in the pass game than the arctic temperatures.

“That’s tough, especially with wind,” Watson said. “You can’t control it, and with different air pockets of the stadium, you don’t know where it’s going to go.”

But the Saints had to deal with it, too — and they won.

“Both teams are playing in the same conditions,” Stefanski said, “so it’s fair.”