But they were not the only ones.

The entire offensive line, decimated by injuries late in the game, struggled to adjust to the games the Giants were playing up front. Knowing the Browns were struggling, they struck early and often. And by the time they were up 21-7 at halftime, they closed their ears and attacked even harder.

“This is very similar to what Mike Vrabel does,” Watson said. “So it was a lot of shell, a lot of quarters, a lot of cover two. Cover three at least. Not really a high-pressure team.

“But you know, this game, that’s what they wanted to do. So they brought a lot more pressure than they normally do on down-and-distances that they normally don’t bring, especially on first down. Second-and-long is usually man coverage, but you know, they played a lot of man coverage, but they also brought pressure. A lot of one whole, lurk and things like that. So, like I said, they did a good job of figuring that out.”

At one point, the TV cameras showed Watson twisting his shoulder. He had just had surgery to repair a broken shoulder socket and has been sacked 16 times and hit 42 times this season.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “Like I said before, if they don’t drag me off the field and I don’t have to have surgery, I’m going to stay there and fight until the final whistle.”

In the second half, Watson had guard Joel Bitonio at left tackle, center Ethan Pocic at left guard, Nick Harris at center, rookie Zak Zinter at right guard and Jones back at right tackle after a brief break early in the second half.

By then, guard Wyatt Teller was out with a knee injury, and Wills (knee) and tackle James Hudson III (shoulder) were also out for the day.

The three injured linemen will all undergo MRI scans on Monday and the Browns will likely be looking for new linemen as they begin a three-game road series.

“I never worry,” Watson said. “Like I said, I’m going to go out there, whoever’s there, the five, I’m going to keep working. Sometimes it goes our way, sometimes it doesn’t. But I get up. I’m going to keep working, regardless of what people think, what people say, whoever’s there, whatever it is. That’s one thing you’re not going to bash me on, my passion for the game and my work ethic and the way I compete, that’s for damn sure.

“So regardless of that, I’m not worried about anything. The biggest thing is to keep cheering these guys on, keep working, keep going to the film room, figure out what we can do to help these guys, but help all of us. We’re one, we’re ourselves. We don’t blame anybody; we don’t blame everybody. There were a couple of shots that I missed that could have capitalized on things and helped everything. So, this is all a team effort as a group.”

Despite being under fire all game, Watson completed 21 of 37 passes for 196 yards with two touchdown passes to Amari Cooper, who came out of his slump, earning him an 89.5 rating.

Watson ran four times for 26 yards and was also stripped in the second quarter, leading to Malik Nabers’ second touchdown catch for New York.

But with 11:33 left in the game, Watson pulled the Browns back to 21-15 with a 6-yard TD pass to Cooper (7 of 12 targets, 86 yards, 2 TDs) and a 2-point pass to Jerry Jeudy. Suddenly, the battered Browns were back in the game.

“He’s a guy that gives everything he can for this team, fights every single time and still gives us a chance to win at the end of the game,” backup quarterback Jameis Winston said. “It’s just a big shout out to him, but we’re all going to get better and we’ve got to get better for the fans.”

Watson ultimately had three real chances to put the game away, but mistakes occurred at the end of each drive: a fumbled handoff by Jerome Ford with 7:40 to go, a sack on fourth down with 3:56 to go and a huge fourth-down drop by Cedric Tillman with a pass over the middle that slipped through his hands with 2:23 to go.

The Giants’ Devin Singletary hit a 43-yard run to the 1 on the next play, and it was game over for the Browns. Tillman was involved in that play because Cooper had been injured the play before and had to come out.

“Keep his head up,” Watson said of Tillman. “I told him I was going to get to him on that play, too. I gave him that opportunity. I’m going to give him a chance to make a shot. You know, sometimes it happens like that and the ball just didn’t bounce our way and we didn’t take advantage of it.

“But you know, I motivated him, ‘Hey, I’m going to keep coming back to you.’ All my guys. It’s a long season, it’s only Game 3. And obviously we have to figure things out as quickly as possible, really, really quickly. But at the same time, we can’t be picking on each other because we have to make sure this team stays focused on the task at hand and we have to keep pushing and keep working.”

He gave Ford the same kind of encouragement.

“I just told him after the game, ‘Keep your head up, man, and we’re going to keep coming at you. We believe in you,'” he said. “And that’s all we can do. And we just have to make sure we’re fully focused on every play, especially when it comes down to that. But he’s going to be fine. He’s going to come back next week and have a good game.”

Watson did find a connection with Cooper, hitting him for a 24-yard touchdown pass on the game’s first play after the Browns forced a fumble on the kickoff and recovered it at the Giants’ 24-yard line.

“Keep giving him opportunities, keep giving him balls that he can catch down the field and yeah, just give him a chance,” Cooper said. “And I think that’s the key as a quarterback, is giving all of our guys a chance to make plays. And he did that today and he definitely wants more, but we just have to keep going.”

Cooper was thrilled that Watson nearly made a comeback in the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, that’s who he is. He’s a fighter,” he said. “That’s why the Browns were so interested in him in the first place. With all the turmoil we had on offense, like I said before, we still had a chance to go out there and win. So I gave him a lot of credit for that.

“I spoke to him a little bit after the game. I just need to clean up a few things. I think we’ve found a bit of a rhythm in the game at times, so I think that’s the positive, but we definitely have some things to build on. So it’s still early in the season, we’ll make our corrections tomorrow and move on.”

Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who has aggravated injuries to his foot and lower leg and is also scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday, knows Watson’s mentality will help them bounce back next week in Las Vegas.

“He’s shown that kind of grit and determination since he’s been in college, since the first time we saw him on a big stage, so that’s nothing new for us,” Garrett said. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together. We’ve got to execute. Whether that’s making plays, blocking, all those little things.

“We talked about focusing on the little things and that has to continue throughout the season, not just this week. Like you said, they are desperate, but in the situation we are in, we are just as desperate. We are both 1-2, so we have to keep coming with that kind of fire and effort and now the execution just has to take it to the next level.”

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who has a mess on his hands on the o-line, knows his QB1 can no longer get hit at this alarming rate.

“It’s not for lack of trying and obviously Deshaun gives you everything he’s got,” Stefanski said. “He can’t get sacked that much, can’t get hit that much. It’s just … that’s not good enough and that’s my responsibility and that’s up to us to fix it.”

The Browns now begin road games against Las Vegas, Washington and Philadelphia, a challenge considering they won just three road games last season, with an 11-6 record.

“It’s a new opportunity,” Watson said. “It’s a new game, it’s a new week. So that’s all that matters. We’re going to go out there next week and get a W, nobody’s going to worry about this week. Same thing. You know, look at the Giants, they started 0-2 and they got a win this week. Nobody’s going to talk about the first two weeks. So it’s a new opportunity every week.”