Yet another kick in the gut for Browns

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints needed less than 10 minutes to obliterate what looked like a milestone victory for the seemingly cursed Cleveland Browns.

Wil Lutz kicked a 44-yard field goal with 21 seconds left, Cleveland kicker Zane Gonzalez pushed the second of his two missed field goals wide right in the final seconds, and the Saints held on for a 21-18 victory that extended the Browns’ winless streak to 19 games.

“These are games that we find we find our identity a little bit,” Brees said, alluding to New Orleans’ inability to score more than three points until the first of Michael Thomas’ two touchdown catches with 8:41 to go. “These are games that, hey, you didn’t have your best stuff, but you found a way.”

With the help of another Cleveland collapse.

Gonzalez also missed two extra points, one week after his potential winning field goal was blocked in a season-opening tie with Pittsburgh. His final miss came from 52 yards.

“It snowballed,” Gonzalez said, acknowledging the psychological effect of earlier misses that he hooked left before pushing his final miss the other way. “I was overcompensating. I get paid to make those kicks and I have to make them.”

Gonzalez’s tough day represented only a portion of Cleveland’s implosion. Defensive back Derrick Kindred’s defensive holding penalty on what would have been a third-down sack extended New Orleans’ first touchdown drive, which ended with Thomas’ 2-yard catch and cut Cleveland’s lead to 12-10.

With just less than five minutes left, Saints safety Marcus Williams intercepted Tyrod Taylor in Cleveland territory on a pass Taylor threw back over the middle as he was rolling to his right.

“You never want to throw late down the middle,” Taylor said. “That’s something I need to be better at. That play was not good for us. You can’t put your team in that situation.”

The turnover led to New Orleans’ second TD on a 5-yard fade to Thomas, who said he was determined to make up for his fumble earlier in the game. Thomas outjumped two defenders to make the catch.

“Enough was enough,” Thomas said. “I needed to respond and help my teammates, and that’s what I did. And I still owe them.”

Brees finished 28 for 35 for 243 yards and two TDs for New Orleans (1-1). Thomas caught 12 passes for 89 yards.

Taylor was 22 of 30 for 246 yards, one TD and one interception. Jarvis Landry had five catches for 69 yards, and Carlos Hyde scored on a 1-yard TD run.

It wasn’t enough for the Browns (0-1-1), who were very close to starting 2-0.

“It’s tough, but we got a lot of football left to play,” Landry said.

JONATHAN BACHMAN/GETTY IMAGES Cleveland’s Zane Gonzalez was the face of the seemingly cursed franchise on Sunday. The Browns kicker missed two PATs and two field goals — including a miss in the final seconds — in the team’s 21-18 loss to New Orleans.