The free beer remains untouched, but the Cleveland Browns have to feel they've come so close to that elusive first win they can taste it.

The good: After going 0-16 last year, Cleveland has played a pair of playoff teams extremely tough in their first two games of this season.

The bad: Everything else, with the most recent heartbreak coming in a 21-18 loss that gave the Browns a 0-1-1 record.

The Browns led the New Orleans Saints 12-3 in the third quarter on Sunday, only to give up the lead on a pair of Drew Brees-to-Michael Thomas touchdown passes in the fourth.

With the Saints leading 18-12 and less than two minutes to go, fate suddenly smiled on the lowly Browns.

More:Eagles can't catch up to red-hot Ryan Fizpatrick, Buccaneers

More:Matt Ryan, Falcons offense find their touch in win over Panthers

On a fourth and 5 from the Saints' 47-yard line, quarterback Tyrod Taylor connected with rookie Antonio Callaway on a miracle touchdown bomb to tie the score at 18, with the extra point pending.

Of course, with these Browns nothing is easy.

Kicker Zane Gonzalez -- who missed a field goal in overtime last week that would have given the Browns the win -- had already missed an extra point earlier in the game. Surely, it couldn't happen again, right?

C'mon, these are the Browns we're talking about. Sure enough, Gonzalez's extra point was wide left and the game remained tied.

Brees drove Saints down the field for a go-ahead field goal with 21 seconds left.

The heartbreak wouldn't be complete, however, without Cleveland getting one more chance. Taylor completed a pair of passes to get the ball to the Saints' 34 with 0:08 left on the clock.

Out came Gonzalez with a chance at redemption. A 52-yard-field goal to send the game into overtime ... went wide right.

The Browns still haven't won since Dec. 24, 2016. Their winless streak now extends to 19 games -- in truly Browns-ian fashion.

Follow Steve Gardner on Twitter @SteveAGardner

If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join our new Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field, to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders.