Browns remain the laughing stock of the AFC North
This season has been a roller coaster ride; a lot of upsets and disappointments. But, one thing that always stays steady is the Cleveland Brown’s struggles. With an 0-5 record going into week six against the 2-3 Houston Texans, the Browns were hopeful to get into the win column.
The Browns quarterback carousel continues as they started Kevin Hogan, their 28th quarterback since 1999 (with a record of 88 – 205 combined among all QB’s). Cleveland opted to not draft a QB in the first round of the 2017 draft. They chose to wait until the 52nd overall pick when they selected DeShone Kizer from Notre Dame. Fans were puzzled when the Browns named Kevin Hogan the starter over Kizer for week six. With Hogan’s stats, it seems as though their doubts were validated. Hogan passed for a total of 140 yards, threw one TD, and three INTs of which one was returned for a Texan’s TD. He was able to rush for 36 yards on five rush attempts.
On the other hand, the Texan’s QB, Deshaun Watson, continued his strong rookie campaign. He completed 17/29 passes for 225 yards, three TDs, one INT and one two point conversion. His steady performance led to a final score of 33-17. All three of Watson’s TDs targeted different receivers (DeAndre Hopkins, Braxton Miller and Will Fuller) showing his ability to read the field.
The score of 33-17 may be misleading. The Browns were able to keep the game remotely close until the end of the first quarter when Watson threw his first TD toss for 39 yards. Cleveland’s very next possession resulted in a pick six for the Texan’s Jonathan Joseph. The problems got worse from there with Hogan throwing his second INT on the very next possession. This put the Browns into a 16-3 deficit to which they were not able to full recover. Hogan’s third INT of the first half occurred towards the end of the second quarter.
The Browns only glimmer occurred during the second half when Jason McCourty returned Watson’s only mistake for a 56 yard interception return early in the fourth quarter. The Browns managed to add only one lonely garbage time offensive TD near the end of the game.
Even with their struggles the Browns had a bright spot on the day, their number one overall draft pick this year, Myles Garrett. In only his second NFL game Garrett posted a impressive stat line, he knotched five tackles, two of them for a loss, a sack on a 3rd down, 4 QB hits, and he applied the pressure on Watson which led to the pick six.
