If you had said before the season that the Cleveland Browns would start the season 1-3, folks would have thought something had seriously gone wrong. This is sort of true, the Browns are simply a bad football team to this point on the field, even if they are not on paper.
The offense has been right there at the bottom of the league. From the coaching to the offensive line to the wide receivers to the running game and the quarterback, the Browns’ offense is just a poor unit right now.
In the 20-16 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Browns nearly had more points on the board but wasted a big opportunity before the half. Amari Cooper was open deep for a touchdown and Watson sailed the football over his head due to pressure in his face from the right ride. Following that, Watson took some frustration out on right tackle Dawand Jones, possibly rightfully so.
“He just told me I was the best tackle in the league,” Jones said, via Cleveland.com. “You’ve got to show it every down, including situations like that. And right there I didn’t show it and I can definitely be better and that was my main thing coming out of the half just to show that I was one of the best tackles in the league.”
Watson was sacked three times against the Raiders, who were without defensive end Maxx Crosby. In total, Watson was hit 11 times and the offense put together just 241 total yards.
Jones was not the only weak link for the team and the entire fault is not on him. A lot went wrong for the Browns. Cleveland had a very long Amari Cooper touchdown near the end of the game that likely would have won it. Instead, Nick Harris was called for a hold and the play was brought back.
The offensive line is beat up and Jones is right in there with that. He is playing with a knee injury, but still getting through it in his second season.
“He’s playing through things like all the guys are right now,” head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “But he’s giving us some good effort. We’ll look at the tape obviously where there are plays he can be better.”
Cleveland has to now look themselves in the mirror. They are 1-3 on the season and face a talented Washington Commanders team next.
