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Everybody loves a good, ol' fashioned train wreck.
In front of a national audience, the Browns offense looked downright dreadful. Neither Brian Hoyer nor Johnny Manziel could coax much out of an out of sync Browns offense. The lone solace was that the Redskins offense didn't do much better against a retooled Cleveland defense.
The only memorable event of the night was Johnny Manziel's one finger salute to the Washington bench, which the league office probably won't find as entertaining.
A remarkable number of people tuned in to watch the train wreck unfold, according to ESPN's Bill Hofheimer.
#Browns #Redskins @ESPNMondayNight gm posts 4.8 overnight rtg, ESPN's 2nd highest rated preseason game ever based on overnights.
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) August 19, 2014
#CLEvsWAS overnight rtg on ESPN is 2nd only to MIN-HOU (8/31/09 - Favre playing for Vikes). That game did a 5.5 overnight.
— bill hofheimer (@bhofheimer_espn) August 19, 2014
According to Nielsen, in Cleveland alone the game posted a 7.3 rating on ESPN and a 21.1 rating on WKYC. In other words, about 28.4 percent of the households with a television in Cleveland tuned in to watch the Browns lay an egg on MNF.
This is the second consecutive week that the Browns have drawn a large preseason audience. Last week's Browns vs. Lions game set an NFL Network record for the most watched preseason game on the channel with a rating of 1.8.
The Browns' next game will be on during primetime on Saturday at 8 p.m. against the Rams. Even so, it's hard to imagine that the game will come close to the viewership of the previous two weeks, even if Manziel receives the starting job.