Todd Monken chose to risk an immediate defeat rather than extend overtime after the Cleveland Browns scored a late touchdown against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, November 8, 2026.
The Browns dropped a 23-22 decision in overtime at the Caesars Superdome after failing on a two-point conversion attempt, DAZN reported. Wide receiver Harold Fannin Jr. hauled in a 39-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Shedeur Sanders with roughly one minute remaining in the extra period, pulling Cleveland within a single point at 23-22.
Game over in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/e4pTvX7Ao4
Monken bypassed the opportunity to send out his field goal unit for a game-tying extra point that would have knotted the score at 23-23. Instead, the head coach kept his offense on the field to try for the win, 24-23, and close out the game immediately.
Postgame statements released by the Browns indicated that Monken based his gamble primarily on the remaining game clock and the two timeouts still held by New Orleans.
The coach reasoned that kicking the extra point to tie would simply hand the ball back to the Saints with about a minute to prepare a decisive field goal, noting that Cleveland probably would have concluded its final offensive possession and faced either a tie if the Saints failed to score or a defeat if they found the necessary three points.
Under NFL regular-season overtime rules, after the initial possessions of the two teams, a tie would let the game continue with victory assigned to the next team to score, but the extra period remains limited to a maximum of 10 minutes.
On the decisive two-point try, Sanders targeted wide receiver Denzel Boston, but the pass fell incomplete. Officials also flagged offensive tackle Tytus Howard for holding on the play, sealing the one-point loss as the Browns remained at 22 points.
New Orleans had opened the overtime session when quarterback Tyler Shough connected with tight end Juwan Johnson on a 15-yard touchdown pass. Fannin answered for Cleveland before Monken made his important choice.
Romain Champagne, an NFL journalist for DAZN, defended the aggressive strategy. Kicking would have prolonged the game without necessarily improving Cleveland’s win probability against a team with timeouts remaining, Champagne noted in his post-game analysis, adding that trying the two-point conversion allowed the team to immediately play for the victory with its own offense even though renouncing the possibility of a tie also carried a cost.
The failed conversion leaves the Browns to address their execution while preparing for their next scheduled opponent on the 2026 NFL schedule.
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