Watson would finish with only twelve completions from twenty-two throws for 131 yards and threw an interception into the Houston red one to end a scoring threat.
Nick Chubb rushed for eighty yards on seventeen carries and Kareem Hunt added fifty-six yards on nine carries to lead the offense.
Cleveland improved to 5-7 with the victory and will travel down I-71 to visit the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday.
Brownie Bits
1) The big question was how DeShaun Watson would be treated in his return to Houston and while I'm sure there was some noise made and plenty of comments, they didn't really come across on the television broadcast.
This could be due to the Texans seeming to have poisoned a once-robust fan base into just ambivalence so it will be interesting to see how Watson is treated next week by the Cincinnati crowd.
2) I didn't expect DeShaun Watson to be sharp and he wasn't.
On the interception in the end zone to Jalen Pitre, he had a receiver open (Donovan Peoples-Jones) and instead attempted to squeeze it into Amari Cooper.
Those things will hopefully develop as Watson plays more often, even if the payoff doesn't arrive until next season.
3) On a few plays though, you could see what Watson could bring to the Browns as he scrambled around the pocket, tucked the ball down, and ran for a first down on an eleven-yard dash.
There are some things that Watson will need to work on but the mobility is still there intact.
4) The Browns entered this game with three interceptions in the previous eleven games but picked two passes in this win, including John Johnson's grab on the first offensive play of the game.
Johnson's interception didn't result in any points but it did set the stage for the Browns defense to make big plays throughout the game.
5) It was a big game for second-year linebacker Tony Fields, who forced a fumble that led to a touchdown, recovered a fumble, and grabbed a ball that was deflected by Chase Winovich, running sixteen yards for a touchdown.
Fields saw some action last week against Tampa Bay and could see even more playing time between his play against Houston and a second-half injury to Sione Takitaki that looked somewhat serious.
6) The other touchdown from the defense was really strange as Fields hit a sneaking Kyle Allen at the Houston two, knocking the ball loose, and seemed like no one saw the football except Denzel Ward, who strolled into the end zone untouched early in the third quarter.
7) Cleveland's other touchdown came from Donovan Peoples-Jones, who returned a punt seventy-six yards for the Browns first score late in the first half.
Peoples-Jones's return was the first punt return touchdown dating back to 2015 and Travis Benjamin.
For a team with so many great returners in their history, the Browns have had major issues filling the void since Josh Cribbs other than Travis Benjamin for a short time.
8) I was disappointed when Nick Chubb was tackled for a safety in the first half as Houston's defensive line pushed the Browns offensive line back and Chubb never came close to getting out of the end zone.
Remember that while it is only needed to break the plane of the goal line to score a touchdown, to avoid a safety the ball needs to completely reside outside of the end zone at the time of the tackle.
10) Other than that, the Browns had no problems running the ball against the Texans and Kareem Hunt looked as good as he has been all season on his carries.
11) Houston is the worst team in the league for a reason and the Browns couldn't score an offensive touchdown against them.
DeShaun Watson will need some time to really sharpen his skills and while the offense has been waiting for him as the savior, he isn't likely to be that for this season anyway.
The Browns missed David Njoku and Watson will naturally improve when his tight end is part of the weapons that he has on the field.
I'd still argue that the Browns need to upgrade those targets in the offseason to give Watson the best chance to succeed but that can wait until another time.
DeShaun Watson will face a good team in the Bengals next week and though they have their defensive issues as well, Cincinnati is much better than Houston, and the Browns have had the Bengals number in the last few seasons, so the Bengals will be much more motivated than one would suspect for a game against a 5-7 team.
We won't receive all the answers next week but we will likely get a few and they will go a long way toward the Browns playing for something in the final month of the season or playing out the string as they get a feeling for DeShaun Watson and what he does best in their offense.
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