s initially appeared on s.
Add The Sporting Information as a e.
It's going to be one other lengthy season in Cleveland.
That a lot is obvious after watching a 34-10 blowout loss to the s in Week 1. The one query is what might be realized from the tip earlier than the following new starting.
It was the identical outdated sadistic setting within the first half. Quarterback Deshaun Watson threw an interception on the opening drive. Jacksonville jumped out to a 24-0 first-half lead behind Trevor Lawrence, who completed 18 of 23 for 245 yards and 4 TDs. Backup quarterback Shedeur Sanders paced the sidelines.
Watson – who’s within the closing yr of a five-year, $230 million contract with Cleveland – completed 16 of twenty-two passing for 205 yards, one TD and one interception. He was sacked 5 occasions. First-year coach Todd Monken already has a quarterback query with a solution Cleveland followers aren't going to love in two weeks.
Who didn't see this coming apart from all people? Watson didn't play effectively in his first motion since n in Week 7 of the 2024 season. It's not about what will occur the remainder of the season. It's what Cleveland will do in response that issues.
Deshaun Watson's disastrous first half
Merely put, Cleveland followers deserve higher than this. Few fan bases could make that declare and imply it. The s traded Myles Garrett this offseason one yr after he set the single-season document with 23 sacks. Watson was named the starter within the preseason after criticizing Browns followers.
Watson missed receiver Jerry Jeudy throughout the center when he didn’t learn linebacker Foyesade Oluokun beneath in protection. Oluokun made a leaping interception. The Browns' subsequent three drives resulted in a fumble and two three-and-outs. The Jaguars outgained Cleveland 23-495 and led 24-0 at halftime.
Deshaun Watson will get picked off on the opening drive of the sport 🤯
(through: L) U
— The Sporting Information (@sportingnews) 6
To place in perspective how unhealthy that first half was – think about 1 on Sept. 12, 1999. Pittsburgh had a 20-0 halftime lead in a 43-0 blowout. Which begs the query 27 years later: "What actually modified?"
It's been a relentless coach-and-QB matchmaking sport with temporary moments of success – together with 2020 when Baker Mayfield led the Browns to the AFC divisional playoffs after beating the s 48-37 within the AFC wild card spherical.
Lawrence was the No. 1 decide within the 2021 NFL Draft. Mayfield left Cleveland after the 2021 season. That's what it’s. An infinite sequence of what-could-have-beens when the truth on the sphere is barely watchable at occasions, and but that fan base finds hope.
Raheim Sanders had a 74-yard kickoff return within the third quarter, and Cleveland pushed to the 2-yard line. A false begin penalty stalled the drive, nonetheless, and so they needed to accept a subject objective. Watson accomplished a 25-yard crossing path to rookie KC Concepcion on the following drive, however that drop stalled within the crimson zone when Watson was sacked on third and fourth down.
Denzel Boston's 1st TD as a Brown 🔥
CLEvsJAX on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on sU— NFL (@NFL) 6
Watson lastly threw a TD on a 46-yard move to second-round decide Denzel Boston with 1:52 remaining. That's a type of snippets of hope that in all probability confirms what is going to occur subsequent for Cleveland – at the least for this season.
Ought to Cleveland Browns begin Shedeur Sanders at QB?
That final landing has that means. Monken may have put Shedeur Sanders in with 4:39 remaining within the fourth quarter. Sanders completed 3-4 as a starter final season with 1,400 yards, seven TDs and 10 interceptions – numbers that had been adequate to make the now-defunct Professional Bowl.
Sanders isn't a franchise quarterback, however he’s inarguably a extra standard selection amongst Browns followers – even when the outcomes wouldn’t be that a lot better. Monken, nonetheless, possible will follow Watson for the following few weeks – and that's going to be a take a look at for all events concerned, together with proprietor Jimmy Haslam and common supervisor Andrew Berry.
Cleveland performs Tampa Bay – led by Mayfield – in Week 2. Then comes back-to-back dwelling video games in opposition to Carolina and Pittsburgh.
Will Watson nonetheless be the starter after that stretch? Sure. Will the countdown to the quarterback-heavy 2027 NFL Draft start in earnest? Sure. Is there motive to consider in a three-year plan that places a extra palatable product on the sphere when Cleveland's new stadium opens in 2029? That relies on whether or not the Browns can lastly discover that quarterback with a few of the new younger items equivalent to Concepcion and Boston.
Cleveland followers have been ready since 1999. Is three extra years actually that lengthy?
