Due to Deshaun Watson’s contentious relationship with Cleveland Browns fans, the team didn’t take their two road games to start the season for granted. The last time Watson played a regular season home game was in 2024, and Browns fans booed the quarterback as he was being carted off the field with a ruptured Achilles.
Watson had an opportunity to test-run his return to Cleveland’s field, and it didn’t go well. Playing in front of the home crowd during the Browns’ second preseason game this year, the veteran quarterback struggled and he was, once again, booed by the team’s fans. Watson didn’t take it well, firing back at fans in his postgame press conference.
The scene left the majority of the football world convinced that Cleveland wouldn’t be able to name Watson as its starting quarterback. However, that’s exactly what the Browns did, and their starting the season with two weeks on the road played a role. Cleveland was hoping that Watson would play well to start the season, possibly earning some goodwill with the fans ahead of the home opener.
It’s possible that the quarterback accomplished that goal. While the season started roughly for Watson and the Browns with an embarrassing Week 1 outing, the quarterback bounced back in Week 2. Watson played one of his best games as a Brown, helping Cleveland move to 1-1.
Now, it’s unclear how Browns fans will react when Watson takes the field on Sunday. Unfortunately, even if Cleveland isn’t booing to start the game, there’s no guarantee that will remain the case all four quarters. In fact, there’s one troubling Deshaun Watson trend that could result in the boo birds coming out before halftime.
Watson hasn’t led a first-half touchdown drive in his last five games. If Cleveland’s offense gets off to another slow start in Week 3, Browns fans will surely start booing, regardless of how they feel to start the game.
Deshaun Watson needs to end his first-half touchdown drought to get Browns fans on his side
The last time Watson led Cleveland to a first-half touchdown was in Week 4 of the 2024 season. To be fair, the quarterback has only played five regular-season games since then, but the offense has been pretty unproductive in the first half of all five.
Going back to 2024, in Week 5 against the Washington Commanders, the Browns only moved the ball enough to get a 51-yard field goal on the board in the first two quarters. A week later against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Watson-led offense got in position for another field goal, and those were the only points they were responsible for in the first half.
Moving to Week 7 of that season, Watson had five full drives against the Cincinnati Bengals, and those drives ended in a punt, a missed field goal, and three straight punts. The Browns’ next offensive drive is when the quarterback ruptured his Achilles, and he was replaced by Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Cleveland did end up scoring on that drive, but Watson was in the locker room, so it didn’t end the streak for him.
Picking up this season in Watson’s return to action, the Browns were shut out in the first half of Week 1, and in Week 2, Cleveland only managed two field goals in the first half. So over the last five games that Watson has played, the Browns' offense is only responsible for 12 first-half points when Watson is the quarterback.
If the offense has another slow start during Sunday’s home opener, Watson’s Week 2 performance won’t be able to save him from what Browns fans have in store. If Cleveland wants to prevent an ugly scene, and actually have the support of its fans, the offense needs to start fast in Week 3.
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