Myles Garrett blocked a Jake Elliott field goal late in the first half and Rodney McLeod ran fifty yards with the recovery for the Browns only touchdown. Dustin Hopkins kicked three field goals to complete the Cleveland scoring.
The Browns dropped to 1-5 and will return to Cleveland next week after losing all three games of their road swing to play the Bengals.
Brownie Bits
1) There will be more talk from the press and the fans about the future of DeShaun Watson as the starter but Kevin Stefanski immediately stated following the game that Watson would be starting against the Bengals next Sunday.
I wonder about the crowd reception after these miserable three losses.
2) Watson did have a few highlights as his final drive bullet to Amari Cooper was drilled where it needed to be and he completed eleven of twelve passes in the second half but once again, Watson finished with less than two hundred yards passing.
3) I'm tired of writing this every week (but not as tired as I am of watching it) but I still don't have a grasp on what the major factor is in why the Browns just aren't able to generate chunks of yardage.
Watson's inaccuracy, Watson's arm strength, wide receivers' inability to separate and their speed, and the offensive line's problems in protecting him, all contribute to this problem- I'm just not sure what can be fixed first.
4) The offensive line took another hit when center Nick Harris broke his fibula on the third play of the game.
Harris was starting in place of the injured Ethan Pocic and his injury forced Michael Dunn, who was starting at right guard rather than backup Zac Zinter, who had been ineffective in place of injured Pro Bowler Wyatt Teller, to shift to center and Zinter returned to the field.
5) Cleveland did receive some long-awaited help on the offensive line with the return of Jack Conklin at right tackle.
Conklin tore his left knee in the 2023 opener and hadn't played since.
Assuming Conklin can stay on the field, the line will be helped.
6) Myles Garrett didn't have a sack but he did have two tackles for loss and his block of a Jake Elliott field goal attempt led to the only Browns touchdown.
Garrett's athletic ability for a man of his size astounds me and it's always been reported how much Garrett loves basketball, which makes sense considering how he leaps!
7) Rodney McLeod's touchdown from the blocked field goal by Myles Garrett had to feel good for the former Eagle and it was his second touchdown of the season.
8) Rodney McLeod, a veteran defensive back, is tied for the team lead in touchdowns after six games.
That is how historically terrible the offense has been,
9) The Browns did use the running game a bit more than they previously had, finishing with one hundred yards as a team, forty-three of those for Pierre Strong.
10) The Browns lost Jerome Ford to injury after two carries but the Browns will return Nick Chubb to the field next Sunday, so the depth will not be affected. Ford is the most effective of the pass-catching backs though and would remove a target that DeShaun Watson looks for when he checks down.
11) I still can't believe the third quarter play call by Kevin Stefanski on a third and one.
After bringing Jameis Winston in for the QB sneak, which I have no problem with considering the size difference and the condition of Watson's shoulder, Stefanski called the number of wide receiver Cedric Tillman and on the replay, you hear a player screaming "It's coming to me".
That man was Brandon Graham, who was sitting in a spot where Tillman ran at him with Graham slamming Tillman to the ground for a five yard loss.
12) That play call resulted in a fifty-two-yard field goal try by Dustin Hopkins into a left-to-right wind that pushed the attempt wide of the goalposts.
13) If the draft was held today, Cleveland's first-round pick would be first overall as the Browns schedule is the third weakest in the league to date.
And they are 1-5.
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