HOUSTON — Deshaun Watson's highly anticipated debut was supposed to provide a boost to the Cleveland Browns offense.
But while the 3-time Pro Bowl quarterback struggled mightily in what marked his first start in more than 700 days, Cleveland's defense and special teams picked up the slack as the Browns beat the Texans (1-10-1) 27-14 to move to 5-7 on the season.
How strange was Sunday's game? Consider this: Cleveland fell behind 5-0 after Nick Chubb was tackled in the Browns' end zone for a safety early in the second quarter. Cleveland, however, took a 7-5 lead when Donovan Peoples-Jones returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown -- the Browns' first punt return for a touchdown since Travis Benjamin scored against the Tennessee Titans in Week 2 of the 2015 season.
Cleveland never surrendered the lead, with cornerback Denzel Ward returning a fumble four yards for a touchdown with 10:10 remaining in the third. After a Cade York 43-yard field goal pushed extended the Browns' lead to 17-8, linebacker Tony Fields II then became the second Cleveland defender to score on the day, with his pick-6 interception pushing the score to 24-8 with 9:30 remaining in the game.
Fields later recovered a fumble on a Texans punt return with 5:29 remaining in the contest to seal the game.
As for Watson, the former Clemson star showed plenty of signs of rust after sitting out the entirety of the 2021 season and serving an 11-game suspension to open the 2022 campaign. Playing against his former team in the city where he spent the first five years of his NFL career, the 27-year-old signal-caller completed 12 of 22 pass attempts for 131 yards and an interception.
Unsurprisingly, Watson -- who has reached settlements with 23 women accusing him of sexual misconduct with another two lawsuits ongoing -- was greeted with plenty of boos in what marked his first NFL start since Jan. 3, 2021.
Despite his own inconsistent performance, the NFL's leading passer in 2020 left Houston on the winning team, with the Browns keeping their postseason hopes alive heading into next week's road game against the Cincinnati Bengals (7-4).