Instead, the Browns looked more like the offense that existed when Ken Dorsey played for the Browns in a worse than the score looked 33-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Cleveland.
DeShaun Watson finished 24 of 45 for 169 yards, a touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy, and two interceptions.
The Browns will travel to Jacksonville next week to play the Jaguars, who lost at Miami on the final play of the game on a Dolphin field goal.
Brownie Bits
1) DeShaun Watson wasn't very good in his return to the field and it's not unfair to wonder about Watson's ability to lead the team to the postseason.
Watson was inaccurate, over and under-throwing receivers, and looked like a player bounding between running at the first rusher and an aging veteran holding the ball too long/
2) The Browns finished the first half with exactly one first down.
One. Think about that- ONE!
3) Watson did make a few strong throws to give me hope but many were overthrown and even when he connected, it had the feeling of an aberration rather than a return to consistency.
4) Watson made one excellent throw that should have been a touchdown in the final quarter but his pass slipped through the hands of Amari Cooper.
Had Cooper grabbed the pass, Watson's stats would have looked better and maybe Browns fans could have taken something positive out of the day.
5) Another reason to (maybe) cut Watson a break? Try the offensive line, who had issues in protecting the quarterback as Watson was sacked six times and hit seventeen times more!
The constant rush in Watson's face caused him to often get rid of the ball quickly and for short gains.
6) Some of this was due to the unexpected loss of Jack Conklin, who was expected to start and then was declared inactive but the Browns had to depend far too much on James Hudson and German Ifedi against the speed rushers from the outside from Dallas.
Of course, the protection will be better with the return of Conklin and Jedrick Wills but the line was in deep trouble today without them.
7) The Browns didn't run the ball often in the second half due to the deficit, so it's unknown how good the running backs were.
The Browns ran for 93 yards on the day but thirty-nine of those were on DeShaun Watson scrambles.
8) The defense didn't play as poorly as the score indicates as Dallas scored only two touchdowns against the defense, as the Cowboys would kick four field goals from forty yards or longer and allowed a punt return for the other Dallas score.
9) About that punt return score by the Cowboys KaVontae Turpin.
I would have understood had a return happened on a kickoff as teams are still learning the new rules.
But not a punt and certainly not the lack of interest in tackling Turpin.
I think Bubba Ventrone is one of the better special teams coaches in the league but he has some explaining to do after that coverage.
10) The Browns did provide some heat on Dak Prescott as they sacked him three times but it seemed as the game moved on, the defensive rush wasn't quite as effective.
11) David Njoku left the game with what is being reported as a high ankle sprain, which is bad news because that can take a while to heal.
The Browns disagreed with my thoughts that they needed another pass-catching threat and stood pat after adding Jerry Jeudy at wide receiver.
One game in and that decision seems questionable.
12) One game doesn't make a season right now but I do think the Browns have a problem.
DeShaun Watson may not have been protected well against Dallas but he didn't play well either and while Watson may be their guy, win or lose, for a while with the investment that the team has in him, that's worrisome because they could stick with him even at the cost of another season.
Next weekend in Jacksonvillle could be very interesting.
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