The Cleveland Browns were losing 31-0 early in the third quarter. That tells you all you need to know about the Browns’ first game of the season, as they ultimately ended up losing 34-10. Once again, we experienced another empty half of points from QB Deshaun Watson, who set the tone early by throwing an interception on the team’s first drive. The defense, including newcomer DE Jared Verse, was a complete no-show, aside from maybe DT Mason Graham. Let’s get to the full game recap.
1st Quarter – Browns vs. Jaguars
Cleveland received
the opening kickoff, with RB Dylan Sampson taking it out to the 40 yard line. On the first play, QB Deshaun Watson tossed it to TE Blake Whiteheart for a simple, open throw that went for 14 yards past midfield. After a short run, WR KC Concepcion got his first NFL touch with a 9-yard completion off of a quick hitter.
After a run by RB Quinshon Judkins went for 5 yards, Cleveland faced a 2nd-and-5 at the 28 yard line. Watson went playaction and tried to zip a pass in to WR Jerry Jeudy, but it was picked off by LB Foyesade Oluokun, who returned it 22 yards to the Jaguars’ 41 yard line. It looked like the same pick he threw in training camp multiple times, not seeing the underneath linebacker.
After a couple runs by the Jaguars to move the chains, QB Trevor Lawrence found himself in the same position as Watson did. Instead of throwing an interception, on 3rd-and-7, and waited and found WR Parker Washington open for a diving 30-yard touchdown grab along the right side to give Jacksonville a 7-0 lead.
The Browns didn’t have as good of starting field position on their second drive, as a holding penalty on the return unit started them at the 17 yard line. After two run plays only netted four yards, on 3rd-and-6, Watson had time, then bailed to his left and was nearly intercepted by Oluokun again. Cleveland punted, and the Jaguars were set to start their next drive at the 26 yard line.
The Jaguars got nice grabs along the perimeter by WR Brian Thomas and Washington to get near midfield. Even when Jacksonville had bad plays — a 2nd-and-20 due to a false start and an illegal forward pass — Lawrence just casually found Washington open for 22 yards. Then, after hurrying up to the line, Lawrence hit Thomas for 18 more yards to set up 1st-and-goal at the 9 yard line. A few plays later, off of a quick playaction, Lawrence gunned it through defenders to WR Josh Cameron for a 5-yard touchdown to make it a 14-0 lead with two minutes left in the opening quarter.
Cleveland’s next drive didn’t go any better. They immediately faced a 3rd-and-10, and Watson let the pressure get to him as he was sacked by DE Josh Hines-Allen and also fumbled, for a loss of 8 yards to end the quarter.
2nd Quarter – Browns vs. Jaguars
The Jaguars’ smooth operation continued in the second quarter, using a mix of jet sweeps and quick outs to receivers to get to midfield. Jacksonville continued driving forward, but ended up facing a 4th-and-short at the 29 yard line. They could have gone for it and probably would’ve gotten it, but instead they sent K Cam Little out for a 47-yard field goal to give the Jaguars a three-possession lead at 17-0.
On the first play of the Browns’ next drive, a run by Judkins accomplished nothing except seeing LG Zion Johnson, who is known to be a durable player, taken off the field with an injury. After the injury timeout, a quick play to Concepcion saw him getting stripped of the ball as he tried to dodge defenders in traffic. Jacksonville took over at the Browns’ 44 yard line.
The Browns’ defense got the Jaguars into a 3rd-and-6, but Lawrence still gunned it along the left sideline to Washington for 14 yards. On the next play, Lawrence didn’t find his first couple targets, but then spotted TE Brenton Strange over the middle for 14-yard touchdown to make it a 24-0 blowout mid-way through the second quarter.
The Browns’ next drive started with a sweep to Concepcion for 8 yards, and then Watson ran for the first down. Watson tried to launch one deep off of playaction on the next play, but it was a wobbling duck that fell short of everyone as his arm was hit on the release. His next pass led WR Jerry Jeudy too far out of bounds for an incompletion, and then on 3rd-and-10, Watson scrambled for a few yards before Cleveland punted again.
The Jaguars faced a 3rd-and-1 heading into the two-minute warning. Jacksonville tried to remain aggressive, but DT Mason Graham was in hot pursuit and sacked Lawrence for a loss of 13 yards, forcing the Jaguars into their first punt of the game.
Concepcion returned the punt to the 30 yard line, where Watson had 1:32 and one timeout to work with to try to get on the board. He started with a quick 20-yard pass to Jeudy, followed by a first-down pass to RB Raheim Sanders. A hold on Johnson pushed Cleveland back to a 1st-and-20, though, at midfield with 0:44 left. They were pushed five yards further back after a false start on RT Tytus Howard. And then, a delay of game made it 1st-and-30. Another hold on Johnson later made it 2nd-and-34. The clock management was bad on top of that too, and Watson’s launch to WR Denzel Boston down the left sideline was incomplete to end the half.
3rd Quarter – Browns vs. Jaguars
The Jaguars took the second half kickoff out to the 40 yard line, and then a 10-yard run got them to midfield. A quick screen out to RB Bhayshul Tuten went for 22 yards, as Jacksonville can do no wrong in this game. As I say that, though, Graham helped blow up a run by Tuten on the next play for a loss of 4 yard yards. A false start made it 2nd-and-19, but then after facing pressure, WR Jakobi Meyers leaked open to the end zone and Lawrence found him for a 32-yard touchdown to go up 31-0.
Sanders then had a breakaway 78-yard kickoff return to the Browns’ 24 yard line, the furthest they’ve been on offense all day.
After a couple plays, Watson faced a 3rd-and-7 and dodged a defender as he rolled to the left and picked up the first down with his legs to the 11 yard line. Watson kept it again on the next play to gain 6 yards. On 2nd-and-4 from the 5 yard line, Watson gave it to Judkins for 2 yards to make it 3rd-and-2 at the 3 yard line. Watson tried adjusting the play and call for the ball, but it came too late for a delay of game, making it 3rd-and-7 at the 8 yard line. His out throw to Boston wasn’t close. Despite being down big, K Andre Szmyt was sent on to kick a 26-yard field goal to get on the board at 31-3.
On Jacksonville’s next drive, they were marching until a couple run stops by the Browns’ defense. They were content to get their three points back as Little hit from 40 yards out to make it a 34-3 game.
TE Harold Fannin finally caught his first pass near the end of the third quarter with a 9 yard catch. Then, the Browns had to burn a timeout to avoid another delay of game, incredibly. Fannin got another 12-yard reception, but then on the final play of the quarter, Watson looked lost and was drilled by four defenders for a loss of 4 yards.
4th Quarter – Browns vs. Jaguars
Watson opened the fourth quarter with his best throw of the game, hitting Concepcion for 25 yards to the Jaguars’ 43 yard line. A couple plays later, Boston got his first catch of the game to move the chains. A few runs by Judkins set up 4th-and-1, and Cleveland went for it with big personnel. And then, of course, Whiteheart was flagged for a false start. On 4th-and-6, Cleveland still went for it, minus the big personnel. Watson scrambled to the left and got past the line to gain, but fumbled, with the Jaguars recovering. Replay review looked at it and determined that his knee was down.
After a couple runs by Judkins, Watson tried running again on third down, but was sacked for a loss of a yard. On 4th-and-4, Watson chaotically didn’t know where to go and was deemed down by contact before he could flip the ball back to a teammate.
The Jaguars pulled Lawrence from the game, ran out some clock, and punted. After the two-minute warning, Watson dropped back and bombed one down the middle of the field to Boston for a 46-yard touchdown to make it a 34-10 game.
Quick Hitters
- QB Deshaun Watson: 16-of-22 for 205 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT. 6 carries, 38 yards, 1 fumble lost.d
- RB Quinshon Judkins: 12 carries, 33 yards. 2 catches, 17 yards.
- WR KC Concepcion: 3 carries, 15 yards. 4 catches, 43 yards. 1 fumble lost.
- WR Denzel Boston: 2 catches, 59 yards, 1 TD.
- DE Jared Verse: 3 tackles, 1 assist (4 combined).
- Let’s look at the positives: I like what I saw from WR KC Concepcion (even though he fumbled), and DT Mason Graham. I thought some of QB Deshaun Watson’s running was OK. And, I thought the offensive line was adequate in protection, although the penalties were bad.
- Overall, this was just more of the same from Watson. You can cherry pick a few of the positive plays he made, but it’s just the same thing we saw years ago. He never sees the underneath linebacker, he often gets lost in traffic and is prone to fumbles, the team has too many delay of game issues under his watch, and more.
- The overall defensive performance was awful and uninspired. It looked like a group at the end of the year that has checked out already, as opposed to one that is fired up to make an impact. The style of defensive play was uninspiring too, and DE Jared Verse looked like he was just standing at the line of scrimmage all game.
- Special teams was good.
Up next, the Browns stay in Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
