The New Orleans Saints hope to win their second straight game when they host the Cleveland Browns this Sunday. They defeated the Atlanta Falcons 20-17 at home last week. This ended a seven-game losing streak and tied for the second-longest single-season losing streak in team history.

Last Sunday’s win was also the first game in which coach Dennis Allen, who left the team the previous week, was not fired. He was replaced by special teams coach Darren Rizzi, and the Saints showed more passion and intensity than they have in more than two months.

New Orleans, now 3-7, opened the year with two explosive offensive performances. Since then, injuries and ineffective depth have taken their toll. Some key players have begun to return, but the Saints will again be noticeably absent from this week’s clash.

Cleveland, now 2-7, had a defense that entered the year with high expectations. While the Browns haven’t performed anywhere close to last year’s level on that side of the ball, they remain a team that can win games.

Points Scored: 16th (22.7/game)

Total Yards: 16th (334.8 yards)

Last: 16th (212.4)

Rush: 13th (122.4)

Quick Average: 18th (4.3)

Third Downs: 17.

New Orleans ranks in the middle of the pack in nearly every offensive category. These overall numbers look very misleading when we consider the first two explosive games of the year. Of course, injuries also played a big role in the decrease in performance.

Quarterback Derek Carr returned from a three-game layoff earlier this year, allowing coordinator Klint Kubiak to open up the playbook a little more. Carr completed 67.4% of his throws with 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, but the protection up front was inadequate at times.

New Orleans hopes to have C Erik McCoy (groin) back this week after missing nearly seven games. There was a period of the year when the Saints were without three interior starters as well as their two primary backups. This obviously affected the pass protection, but it also handcuffed the rushing attack. Quietly, young players Taliese Fuaga and Trevor Penning had solid years, but were plagued by internal issues for much of the season.

Carr also had a depleted receiver corps to work with. Top wingers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed remain on injured reserve, along with rookie Bub Means. Newly acquired veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling showed some explosiveness last week with three catches for 103 yards and two scores, showing promise moving forward.

Veteran WR Cedrick Wilson showed little, and undrafted rookie Mason Tipton or Kevin Austin showed little either. While Athletic TE Juwan Johnson remains extremely unreliable, Foster Moreau is the most effective player as a blocker. With Olave and Shaheed out for extended periods of time, the team’s passing attack has often been very limited and predictable.

Taysom Hill is among the productive players who missed time with the Saints. Hill’s absence actually showed how important his presence was offensively. The versatile weapon has just 230 rushing yards on 23 touches in six games. However, he poses a real threat to the defense in many ways from many different positions.

For most of this season, Alvin Kamara appeared to be the sole weapon on the Saints offense. A fragmented offensive line, often inefficient receivers, and a lack of backfield depth have made Kamara the focal point of opposing defenses more than ever. Yet somehow it remained effective.

Kamara has 715 rushing yards and six touchdowns and is averaging 4.3 points per attempt. He has an additional 421 yards and a score on a team-high 51 receptions. He surpassed 100 rushing yards in seven contests this year. In three games, Kamara had less than 100 yards from scrimmage, and the Saints averaged just 14 rushing points.

Even with Hill now healthy, don’t expect confidence in Kamara to change anytime soon. While Olave and Shaheed are not on the team, RB Kendre Miller is also still injured and Jamaal Williams looks set to miss his third straight game.

Points Allowed: 21st (23.7)

Total Yards: 15th (328.3)

Against Pass: (205.7)

Against the Run: 14th (122.5)

Quick Average: 19th (4.5)

Third Downs: 2.

Like the offense they faced this week, Cleveland ranks near the middle of the league in most defensive categories. Also, like the Saints, much more was expected from the Browns’ defensive unit.

Cleveland has committed turnovers in just three of its nine games this season. One interception and five forced turnovers are the fewest turnovers in the NFL. He has 27 total sacks and 55 QB hits, but they traded DE Za’Darius Smith to the Detroit Lions.

In his eighth year, DE Myles Garrett continues to be a force. The NFL Defensive Player of the Year has seven sacks, 15 QB hits and 29 pressures this season. He leads a formidable defensive line consisting of Dalvin Tomlinson, Ogbo Okoronko and Shelby Harris.

The Browns’ leading tackler, outside linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, is on injured reserve. Jordan Hicks has been terrific in midfield, but Cleveland’s defense has been consistently out of position as a group and behind athletically for much of this season.

The Browns have perhaps the second-best team in the league in terms of talent. However, the unit did not always live up to its potential. They have no interceptions as a group and have allowed six pass catchers to gain at least 70 yards, including four 100-yard outings. Only two opposing quarterbacks threw for over 265 yards against Brown’s protection, but they were left defenseless against the big play.

Cornerback Denzel Ward has been largely outstanding. Ward gave up less than a 44% completion percentage when targeted and broke up a league-best 15 passes. Martin Emerson and Greg Newsome are equally great corners but have been targeted with much greater success this season. Emerson and Newsome combined allowed a 59.6% completion rate with only six passes intercepted.

Cleveland has a deep safety staff, but they also have a group that isn’t up to snuff. Grant Deplpit, Juan Thornhill, Ronnie Hickman and Rodney McLeod are active and physical. And like the Browns linebackers, they were extremely vulnerable to plays.

New Orleans enters Sunday’s game after last week’s win ended a seven-game losing streak. Cleveland has lost six of its last seven games. The meeting of two teams with much higher expectations on this side of the ball will probably determine the outcome of this match.