On Sunday afternoon September 22 ,2024, the 1-1 Cleveland Browns hosted the 0-2 New York Giants. The Browns were 6.5-point favorites in this game. The previous home game for the Cleveland Browns was a disappointing loss to the Dallas Cowboys 33-17. This game was supposed to be different, and it started out like it was going to be different.

On the opening kickoff the Giants fumbled the return, and the Cleveland Browns recovered. The next offensive play had Deshaun Watson threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper to put the Cleveland Browns on top 7-0 in the first 15 seconds of the game. But for most of the game the Cleveland Browns offense was anemic at best.

Deshaun Watson went 21-37 for 196 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 89.5. Watsons stats were good in this game. Even though there were times when he and the Browns offense stalled. It just seemed like they couldn’t get anything going in the first half. There were two things that hurt them.

The Browns only had 5 penalties for 48 yards. That wasn’t the problem. The problem for the Browns offense was that Deshaun Watson was sacked 8 times. Quarterback sacks can stop an offensive drive in its tracks. Another thing that hurt the Browns in this game was turnovers.

Both the Browns and the Giants had two turnovers each. Watson lost a fumble on a strip sack in the last two minutes of the first half. That led to a Giants touchdown. And that gave New York a 21-7 lead at halftime. Despite all of that, the Browns still had an opportunity at the end of the game.

With 3 minutes left in the game the Cleveland Brows had the ball on their 38-yard line. The drive ended when Browns receiver Cedric Tillman dropped a 4th down pass from Deshaun Watson. It was a microcosm of the game.

The Cleveland Browns are now 1-2 and had a missed opportunity to get a win. They travel to Las Vegas next week to play the Raiders. Some experts and pundits are already referring to next week as a must win game. I believe next week in Las Vegas is a game that is important to get back on track. Otherwise, the season can get away from this team and their fans.