On Sunday October 20th ,2024, at 1 pm Eastern Time, the 1-5 Cleveland Browns hosted the 2-4 Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field. This is the first game of divisional play for the Browns and the team did get an emotional boost with the return of star running back Nick Chubb. His ovation in pregame player introductions was the loudest I heard that stadium roar all season. Chubb was welcomed back with open arms by Browns fans, and he rewarded them in kind.

It was expected that in Nick Chubb’s first game back is that he would have limited carries. He had 11 rushes for 22 yards. But he also had his first rushing touchdown in his first game back in 2024. He had a 1-yard touchdown run with less than a minute in the first half. It was a long road back for Chubb and it was the highlight of the game for Cleveland Browns fans. The lowlight was another devasting injury on offense.

On the closing drive of the first half for the Cleveland Browns, quarterback Deshaun Watson tore his Achilles tendon on a non-contact play. He appears to be lost for the season. He was relieved by Dorian Thomson-Robinson, and he too was lost by a hand injury. The third string emergency quarterback Jameis Winston was called into service late in the 4th quarter. He did find tight end David Njoku for touchdown with 1:26 left in the game. But Cincinnati recovered the onside kick and that ended the game. The Browns have now lost 5 games in a row, and they lost their franchise quarterback for the year. Where do they go from here?

This loss puts the Browns with a 1- 6 record and the Bengals are now 3-4, the season is slipping away from this team. It doesn’t help to give up an opening kickoff return for a touchdown when you are trying end a losing streak. The Browns defense did play well enough to win by holding a high-powered Bengals offense to under 300 yards of total offense and two touchdowns.  The Browns offense improved it stats by having over 300 yards of offense for the first time this season. The Browns did win in other statistics like first downs, third down conversions, and time of possession. But they lost on the scoreboard 21-14, and that is what counts the most. Next Sunday afternoon the Browns 1-6 host the Ravens 4-2 for their week 8 matchup. The best for the Browns to do is to take it one game at a time. And they’ll get to do it with Jameis Winston and Nick Chubb.