The New Orleans Saints made another midseason swap at placekicker, once again turning to Irish kicker Charlie Smyth after a veteran starter, this time Daniel Carlson, struggled to start the season.
Smyth went 2-for-3 on field goals in his 2026 season debut, with a miss from 52 yards out, a distance from which Carlson had also missed numerous kicks. While that wasn’t the result anyone, including Smyth, wanted to see, he was also perfect on his pair of extra points.
Extra points don’t often stand out until they’re missed. Carlson had two misses on point-after attempts before being cut. But Smyth’s kicks following scores ended up playing a large role in the Saints’ 23-22 overtime victory over the Cleveland Browns.
The Saints took a late lead of 16-13 in the fourth quarter. It was a moment that many expected would decide the game as quarterback Tyler Shough led the team on a six-play, 55-yard drive, ending in a rushing touchdown by running back Audric Estime.
However, after a remarkable connection between Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver Jerry Jeudy with Saints edge rusher Chase Young bearing down on the young passer, the Browns kicked a field goal to tie the game at 16-16 and force overtime.
Going back to Estime’s touchdown, Smyth’s extra point ended up being a key factor. For a kicker who hadn’t kicked in a game all year, converting the extra point kept the Browns out of a situation in which a field goal could win the game and prevented the Saints from experiencing a gut-wrenching loss at the end of regulation.
Similarly, Smyth’s extra point in overtime was another key. After Shough found wide receiver Chris Olave on a deep pass to reach the red zone and then connected with tight end Juwan Johnson for a 15-yard go-ahead score, the Browns were forced to make a decision when they drove back down for an overtime score of their own.
The Browns had to decide whether to play for the tie on the road or go for two and the win. They chose the latter and came up short, giving the Saints their first home win of the season. If Smyth misses the point-after following Johnson’s touchdown catch, the Browns could have kicked their way to a win.
Smyth won’t be lauded for making extra points. But for a player who had been shelved all season and had only been kicking NFL footballs for a handful of years, he proved more reliable in the clutch than the NFL veteran the team started the season with.
He’s also getting used to winning. The Saints are 5-2 with Smyth as their kicker.
Those wins, of course, correspond with some excellent performances elsewhere, not least of all Shough. But the more that the team wins with Smyth coming through in big moments, even the ones most don’t realize, the more his confidence builds and the more reliable he can become.
