They certainly tried their best to make it interesting, but despite a sloppy effort that will assuredly have Kevin Stefanski very talkative in the film room, the Browns are now in the win column for the first time in 2024.
Cleveland hung on to beat Jacksonville 18-13 on Sunday, overcoming a spotty second half along with a series of tormenting penalties. The Jaguars came back from a 13-point deficit and drove into Browns territory on their final drive, but couldn't finish the deal in their home opener, with Trevor Lawrence's last-ditch pass falling incomplete.
Even with the sloppy play, it was still a massive upgrade from Week 1, when it felt as if everything looked out-of-sync. On this weekend, we finally got a peak at how Ken Dorsey's offense may look when it's firing on all cylinders, especially at quarterback.
Following his disastrous performance against Dallas, Deshaun Watson looked much more comfortable in the pocket, hitting his receivers in stride for chunk gains while working to get rid of the football in a timely fashion. Though his passer rating was a rather average 78.8, he still completed 22 of his 34 throws for 186 yards, and also ran for 20 yards and Cleveland's only touchdown on the opening drive. More importantly, he didn't turn the ball over.
Watson singled out Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore as his favorite targets, with the pair combining for 11 catches for 117 yards. Unfortunately, Amari Cooper struggled with just three grabs, and for the second week in a row dropped a wide-open pass that forced the Browns to settle for a field goal that made it 10-0.
It was the beginning of a recurring theme for the Orange and Brown, as even when it seemed like they were dominating, they would be tripped up by their own mistakes. For instance, an illegal motion penalty by Dustin Hopkins on the ensuing kickoff negated a Cleveland takeaway and helped give Jacksonville three of their own. Luckily, the defense stepped up thanks to the efforts of Myles Garrett and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, and the score stood at 13-3 headed into halftime.
Yet after a Hopkins field goal made it 16-3 early in the third quarter, the Browns' offense never scored again, and Lawrence began to find his groove after a slow start. A deep throw to Brian Thomas set up a Travis Etienne TD to make it 16-10 headed into the fourth, and all of a sudden the Jags found themselves in contention after being buried for most of the afternoon.
That's when the disciplinary wheels fell off for Cleveland, as on Jacksonville's next series the defense committed three penalties to put the ball in the red zone. A Christian Kirk touchdown was nullified by a Jaguars flag that forced a Chad Little field goal, but the problems persisted on the Browns' following drive, as another slew of penalties knocked them out of scoring range and led to a punt. Overall, the Browns finished the game with a whopping 13 penalties for 100 yards.
Mercifully, Corey Bojorquez pinned Jacksonville at their own 2-yard line, and Alex Wright came through with a sack of Lawrence in the end zone for a safety. The Browns couldn't run the clock out and the Jags drove to the opposing 33, but Lawrence's final throw was deflected away in the end zone.
Jacksonville actually won the yardage battle 323-297, but Cleveland was able to make the plays when it mattered. Wright, Garrett, Jordan Hicks, and Quinton Jefferson all garnered sacks on defense.
Unlike Watson last Sunday, this time it was Lawrence who struggled, completing only 14 of 30 passes for 220 yards. Etienne was also held mostly in check with 58 total yards and a score as the Jaguars fell to 0-2 on the year.
Now 1-1, the Browns will be back home at Huntington Bank Field next Sunday for a showdown with the New York Giants.