Browns’ biggest question mark entering the season falls flat in ugly loss to Cowboys

Again. It happened again. But this time it was to start the season for the Cleveland Browns.

After having all offseason to recover from his shoulder injury and not playing in the preseason, quarterback Deshaun Watson laid an egg to start the season against the Dallas Cowboys.

The result was the Browns losing at home by a score of 33-17. Cleveland trailed 20-3 at halftime and it did not get much better from there. Cleveland scored a touchdown in the final 30 seconds to make it closer than it really was.

Deshaun Watson starts 2024 being the same player he has been as of recent

Watson was just 6-of-13 passing for 33 yards and an interception in the first half. Overall, Watson finished 24-of-45 passing for 169 yards and one touchdown to two interceptions. Cleveland’s offense struggled mightily all game but it was the first half in particular that separated things. Digging a big hole early proved to be too much for the Browns.

If it could go wrong for the offense and Watson in the first game, it did. Watson missed open receivers and failed to see them other times. The offensive line had a bad day against Micah Parsons and Co., but still, Watson held onto the ball far too long often. Cleveland’s starting quarterback was sacked six times by the Cowboys’ defense and fumbled once.

The lack of a run game did not help Watson, still, the quarterback has to make throws at the end of the day and they were there to make at times. Cleveland’s offense was very limited in their ability to stretch the field, as Watson did not look to pass the ball downfield often at all.

Start No. 13 for Watson in Cleveland went like most of his previous 12 starts, he played very poorly and left a lot to be desired out there.

If this is going to be the level of quarterback play from Watson this season, the Browns will have to think hard about giving the keys to Jameis Winston. At this point, the other quarterbacks on the roster can not be worse than Watson has. Bad quarterback play can sink a team.

It is only Week 1 but the early signs are bad for Watson, the offense, and this team as a whole unless things trend up in the near future.

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