Browns offensive in 28-3 loss

   DeShaun Watson announced before the game that his ailing shoulder wasn't strong enough for him to play against the Baltimore Ravens and with that disappeared any hope of a home victory as the offense did next to zilch in a 28-3 loss at home.

Late starter Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw three interceptions and only 121 yards passing in the defeat.

Pierre Strong ran for forty yards on a  garbage time run to finish with forty-nine yards rushing as the offensive "star".

Cleveland falls to 2-2 and will be off next week before hosting unbeaten San Francisco in two weeks.

Brownie Bits

1) DeShaun Watson tried to throw a few passes in pre-game warmups and at the conclusion of those attempts, Watson was declared unavailable.

Watson hadn't practiced all week but was expected to play and his inactivity forced the Browns to throw Dorian Thompson-Robinson to the wolves or Ravens if you will.

2) Kevin Stefanski says that Watson's shoulder is "structurally sound" and he expects Watson to play in two weeks vs San Francisco.

Stefanski better be right because another outing from Thompson-Robinson like today and it means 2-3 with four of the five games at home.

3) It's tough to blame Dorian Thompson-Robinson for his performance under the circumstances but it does bring two points to mind.

The first is how little preseason performance has to do with preparation for untested quarterbacks.

Thompson-Robinson dazzled in the preseason against players who are now sitting on benches or unemployed but it should have had no bearing on the decision below.

4) This isn't to say that I think Joshua Dobbs would have done any better today than DTR but it's apparent that Andrew Berrt erred in not having an experienced backup behind DeShaun Watson on the roster and no, I'm not counting P.J. Walker.

While I fully support the idea of having a backup with a similar style as the starter and I also liked the Browns getting a fifth-rounder for Dobbs, considering that they may have decided to let him go anyway.

However, the decision to go into such a pivotal season with this situation seems foolhardy at this point.

It didn't have to be Dobbs but it should have been someone better able to handle a situation such as today.

5) Dorian Thompson-Robinson didn't play well but his offensive line didn't help as the young passer was sacked four sacks, hit more than that, and committed several penalties that stopped some of the few big plays that the Browns did come up with.

6) The Browns offensive day started bad and got worse as on their first offensive play, Jerome Ford ripped off a twenty-six-yard gain that was nullified by a holding call on Amari Cooper.

The twenty-sux yards equaled the total that Ford would amass all day on nine carries.

7) Thompson-Robinson tried to hit Amari Cooper but completed just one of six attempts to the veteran receiver,

8) Elijah Moore was acquired with the idea of getting the ball into his hands in the open field and for use in gadget plays but so far these have been ineffective.

The Browns tried a run play once with Moore, but Moore was unable to turn the corner and kept running backward.

Only an effort by Moore to gain something back allowed the play to lose "only" twenty yards.

9) I know lots are stating the defense was overrated but I'm not ready to go that far yet.

The defense was on the field almost the whole game and worn down, it is tough to make plays when you are that exhausted.

10) Two of the Ravens four touchdowns were drives of ten and thirty-eight yards.

Short-field touchdowns aren't excused but it does put the score in context.