Is There Reason For Optimism With Deshaun Watson?
Nov 5, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) points in celebration from his run for a first down against the Arizona Cardinals during the third quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
Even though the Arizona Cardinals aren’t exactly crème of the crop competition, the Cleveland Browns came away with a dominating win on Sunday. The offense put up 27 points and the defense limited a rookie quarterback to 58 total yards. Myles Garrett once again terrorized a quarterback, hitting Clayton Tune with a sack, pass deflection, and forced fumble.
And even though the accuracy appeared to be slightly off, especially in the first half, Deshaun Watson made a couple of nice plays in the passing game and showed flashes of himself. Remember, his last full game against Tennessee he also had a great performance before the shoulder injury.
With a lot of positivity over the last two full starts for Watson, where do the Browns stand with Watson moving forward?
Has Watson Turned the Page?
Watson was 19 of 30 for 219 yards with two passing touchdowns on Sunday vs. the Cardinals and was 27 of 33 for 289 yards with two passing touchdowns vs. the Titans in his last start. Even though it felt like the offense had a few slowdowns, the stat line doesn’t lie, and Watson was extremely efficient and didn’t turn the ball over in either game.
There are two reasons I’m keeping my cool on being overly excited. One, it’s the Cardinals, not only are they likely the worst team in the NFL, but we played a rookie quarterback who started his first NFL game. The offense scored 27 points, but the defense gave the offense a ton of short fields with two interceptions and a forced fumble.
The second reason I’m holding restraint is his accuracy was still an issue, especially in the first half. Yes, Watson had more than 200 yards passing, but nearly half of those yards came on two long completions to Amari Cooper.
Watson had four or five incompletions that were just check-downs, yet he failed to hit the target on the numbers. There were also two passes where he missed a wide-open receiver on third down. Watson was checking the ball down early and often, but Browns receivers were able to make people miss in the open field to keep the ball moving.
Now I will say, that Watson did seem to finally get in a bit of a groove in the second half. He had a couple of nice third-down runs and had a few great passes into tight windows to go along with the bomb to Cooper.
The Browns had a nice lead and were satisfied milking the clock in the fourth quarter, but I was hoping to see Kevin Stefanski let him rip it around the field a bit to just continue to grow that confidence.
It’s also worth mentioning that it felt like Watson had fun on Sunday. There were plenty of times when they panned to him where he was smiling, and it felt like he had grown the chemistry with the rest of the team.
I’ve said it in the past, I was afraid there was more than just an injury previously. It felt like Watson was extremely gun-shy and he may not have been extremely happy with his decision to come to Cleveland.
But after seeing his zip on the ball yesterday and some of his demeanor, I’m far less concerned than I was. I’m not ready to say that Watson is back, but I do see signs of positivity and am certainly excited to see how he continues to progress in 2023.
The Next Two Weeks Will be Telling:
The Cleveland Browns season will likely be made in the next two weeks as they travel to Baltimore followed by hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns will get a bit of a break after that, but in my mind, they must go 1-1 in the next two weeks, and 2-0 if they want any shot to win the division.
Not only will these two weeks be telling how the rest of the season will go, we will also get to see Watson against elite defenses and see if he has truly improved or not. The Ravens will bring tight man coverage and the Steelers will bring a ton of pressure which both have given Watson issues in Cleveland.
I’m not saying that the Browns will need to score 30-plus points to win these games with the defense they have, but they need to find a way to not turn the ball over and sustain a few drives. Remember, Watson was playing when they played the Steelers on Monday Night and they allowed the Steelers defense to score 14 points on two costly turnovers.
The Ravens are currently playing as well as anyone in the league, if I’m being honest I’ll be thrilled if the Browns keep it close. It will hurt after, but proving they can hang with the Ravens in Baltimore is truly a moral victory.
The game they must win if they are a for real playoff team is at home vs. the Steelers. While Mike Tomlin has carried this team to a 6-3 record so far, they are a terrible offensive team that is severely limited, and our defense should be able to keep them off the scoreboard.
In the grand scheme, this team is progressing. Even though it hasn’t been as fast as I’d like on offense, there is still a lot to be happy with. And whether we like it or not, we will know a whole lot more in two weeks.
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