2024 Week 1: Cowboys 33, Browns 17
The Browns didn’t play well but this was another game where it’s not as bad as it felt, Cleveland’s O-line was dominated by the Cowboys.
The Dallas offense wasn’t that great either but the defense was strong and the Browns played with little motivation. They had chances early and then lost hold of the game. Deshaun is dragging this team town with his on-field and mostly off-the-field distractions.
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- Starting with Deshaun Watson (24/45 for 169 yards, 1 TD/ 2 INT, 5 rushes for 39-0) – This was not a good game but also not the worst I’ve seen, especially given the pressure he was under all game. 17 QB hits, that’s not a typo… SEVENTEEN QB hits on Watson, paired with 6 TFLs. The Browns O-line after losing Bill Callahan to Tennessee has left them a shadow of their former selves.
- Deshaun had even more allegations come out against him, I don’t know Cleveland can keep Watson around… bite the bullet in terms of money and get this distraction out of the clubhouse.
- Dak Prescott (19/32 for 179 yards, 1 TD, 1 rush for 3 yards) was shaky as well, but the better line and Brown's weaker pass rush helped Dak succeed slightly more. The Cleveland defense dropped multiple picks this game.
RB Report:
- Ezekiel Elliott (10-40-1, 2 catches for 9-0/2) split with Rico Dowdle (8-26-0, 1 catch for 6 yards) with an almost 50/50 snap share, but Dowdle’s snap count was buoyed late when Cleveland was out of the game.
- Jerome Ford (12-44-1, 6 catches for 25-0/7) is the clear lead, Pierre Strong (2-10-0, 2 catches for 20-0/3) the #2, and often disrespected RB D’Onta Foreman played one snap. He deserves better.
WR/TE Report:
Amari Cooper (2-16-0/9) had no effect on this game other than garnering targets. The Cowboys secondary was very aggressive and played tight coverage on all of the WRs. The tight coverage and persistent pass-rush didn’t allow Watson the time for Cooper’s routes to develop. Cooper almost hauled in a 40+ yard TD pass but he dropped it, uncovered I may add.
- Jerry Jeudy (3-25-1/8) did nothing with his targets, per usual.
- David Njoku (4-44-0/5) was the easy throw for Deshaun and was the go-to in the face of pressure until he was hurt. Jordan Akins (3-27-0/4) might be able to put something together here.
D/ST Report:
- Rookie corner Caelon Carson (4 tackles, 2 PD) had a great debut and had good coverage on Amari Cooper.
- Brandon Aubrey was the #4 kicker this week and hit a record-tying 66 yard field goal but was called back due to delay of game. The Cowboys then lined up for the ensuing 71-yarder but a Browns timeout siked out McCarthy. Aubrey is the most trusted kicker in the league.
