Watson rusty, but Cleveland rolls to win

HOUSTON — Deshaun Watson struggled in a sloppy performance in his first game in 700 days but a punt return for a touchdown by Donovan Peoples-jones and two defensive TDS were plenty enough to give the Cleveland Browns a 27-14 win over the lowly Houston Texans on Sunday.

In the same stadium where he played his previous game, a rusty Watson threw for 131 yards with an interception in his debut for the Browns (5-7) against his former team in his return after serving an 11-game NFL suspension for sexual misconduct allegations.

Plenty of fans attended the game wearing Watson's No. 4 jersey from both the Texans (1-10-1) and the Browns, but there were also detractors with loud boos raining down on him every time he touched the ball.

The Browns trailed 5-0 early but a 76-yard punt return by Peoples-jones put them on top in the second quarter and Denzel Ward's 4-yard fumble return for a score pushed the lead to 14-5 early in the third quarter.

Cleveland didn't score on offense until a 43-yard field goal made it 17-8 with about 10 minutes remaining. The Browns added a second defensive score when Tony Fields intercepted Kyle Allen and returned it 16 yards on the next play.

Allen had a terrible day in his second start since Davis Mills was benched. He threw for 201 yards with a fumble that was returned for a touchdown and two interceptions, the second of which was returned for a score, as Houston's skid stretched seven games.

It was Watson's first start since Jan. 3, 2021, when he threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns for Houston in a 4138 loss to Tennessee. Soon after that, he became unhappy with the direction of the team and requested a trade. Then, two dozen women accused him of sexual harassment or assault during massage therapy sessions.

He remained on Houston's roster last year, but sat out all season before being traded to the Browns in March.

Watson agreed to the lengthy suspension, a $5 million fine and had to undergo professional counseling and therapy after an independent arbitrator ruled that he violated the league's personal conduct policy.

Watson was 12 of 22 and finished with a 53.4 QB rating, which was the lowest of a career where he took the Texans to the playoffs in two of the four seasons he played for them.

His first completion was on his third throw on a short pass to Anthony Schwartz. But Tavierre Thomas stripped the ball and Desmond King recovered it to give Houston the ball on the Cleveland 38.

The Texans had a first down at the 16, but a face mask penalty followed by a false start pushed them back 20 yards and they settled for a 44-yard field goal four plays later to make it 3-0.

Nick Chubb had 80 yards rushing for the Browns and Kareem Hunt added 56 yards.