Browns vs Giants Winners & Losers: Cleveland’s Week 3 failure

The Cleveland Browns had a Sunday afternoon reminiscent of far too many Sundays in the past.

With the 0-2 New York Giants in town and the Browns looking to build some momentum before hitting a three-week stretch of road games, Cleveland came up short once again.

The loss is Cleveland's second at home in as many tries , and given that the team struggles to find a victory on the road is quickly turning into a problem.

As painful as it may be, let's run back through the game to see if anyone earned a Brownie, because there are a lot who will be handed a Frownie.

First offensive series of the game: The Browns scored on their first offensive series for the second consecutive game. Unlike last week, when it took 16 plays and more than nine minutes to score, Cleveland only needed one play for quarterback Deshaun Watson to hit wide receiver Amari Cooper for a 24-yard touchdown.

That was the first time the Browns have scored a touchdown on their first offensive play since they did it against the Miami Dolphins in 2005.

Second-half defense: After allowing New York quarterback Daniel Jones to have his way with them in the first half - Jones was 17-of-19 for 178 yards and two touchdown passes - Cleveland's defense did its best to keep the Browns in the game by pitching a shutout in the second half.

The Giants had seven drives while the game was still in doubt in the second half, and the Browns forced five punts, recovered a fumble, and saw the Giants miss a field goal. All told, the Browns held New York to 63 yards of total offense in the second half.

Amari Cooper's return: Wide receiver Amari Cooper was back to his old self with seven receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns.

Cleveland's offense after the first drive: The Browns may have repeated their opening drive success for the second consecutive game, but they also repeated the offense going into a funk. Of the next eight drives following the touchdown, six ended in a punt, one with a missed field from kicker Dustin Hopkins, and one with a lost fumble by quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Cleveland's offense in the fourth quarter: Thanks to the work of the defense, the Browns actually had a chance to win the game after scoring a touchdown and successfully hitting the two-point conversion.

Down by six points with a little more than 11 minutes to play, the Browns had three offensive drives with an opportunity to win the game, but one drive ended with a lost fumble from running back Jerome Ford, and the other two ended with a turnover on downs after just four plays each.

Martin Emerson in pass coverage: New York rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers worked over Cleveland cornerback Martin Emerson in the first half. The Browns did a better job on Nabers in the second half as cornerback Denzel Ward spent a lot of time on him in coverage, but it was a rough day for Emerson.

Wide receivers not named Amari Cooper: Cleveland's other wide receivers had an afternoon to forget, as Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman combined for just seven receptions and 48 yards. Tillman put an explanation point on a long afternoon by dropping a fourth-down pass that would have kept Cleveland's last offensive drive alive.

Cleveland's pass protection: The Browns struggled to contain New York's pass rush as quarterback Deshaun Watson was sacked eight times. It didn't help that the injury gremlins kept hitting at the offensive line, as right guard Wyatt Teller left with a knee injury, left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. spent time in the medical tent with a knee injury, right tackle Dawand Jones was in an out as his knee was bothering him, and backup tackle James Hudson III left with a shoulder injury.

The situation was so dire that at one point the Browns fielded an offensive line of Joel Bitonio at left tackle, Ethan Pocic at left guard, Nick Harris at center, rookie Zak Zinter at right guard and Jones at right tackle.