BALTIMORE, MD — Thanks to leading a 33-31 comeback victory over the AFC North-leading Baltimore ravens on the road, Deshaun Watson scored his first statement win as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns.
Full disclosure: In the sake of fairness, and to expand upon my recent Facebook post from this past Sunday, but I’m going to keep this FOOTBALL. RELATED.
For the record, I will state that I have never been a fan of Watson, not since his days at Clemson, when his former coach Dabo Swinney referred to him as the next “Michael Jordan”, nor with the Texans, when he was compiling stats and led the league in passing–thanks to DeAndre Hopkins– and for the most part remained non-committal about my position regarding his off-the-field character issues.
Yes. He has struggled, and at various times, Watson has looked like a waste of $230 million, but I am no disgruntled “Baker bro” secretly rooting for his demise. That being said, Watson started of terribly–at one point with a 6.8 QB rating, and looked awful. (Hence my now-deleted Facebook post that didn’t age too well.)
But then, something just clicked.
Don’t know what it was, but I proverbially saw a switch go off in him, or he added some Old Bay seasoning to his diet, but Watson began to show some of those old Clemson/Houston flashes ⚡️of his former All Pro and national title winning self.
In the second half, he was 14/14 for 136 yards, 16 rushing yards and a TD. And finished the game completing 20-34 passes for 213 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Sometimes its not how you start, but how you finish.
And Watson certainly proved that against the No.1 defense in the league.
Yes.
The defense came up big, but as much as I LOVED Baker—and yes, I’m bringing You-Know-Who’s name into this—because there are certain petty and butt-hurt factions of Browns “fans” secretly hoping Watson fail, and that Mayfield goes white savior on the Bucs—and miraculously possibly back to save the Browns one day—but hate the man all want, but he is 7-4 as a starter, 5-1 this season, and No. 6 is on his one, two, three, FOURTH team in six years.
Kinda weird to see a scrambling, athletic QB with a strong arm—when he isn’t dirting balls in the ground, I know—but it is foreign and exotic to many Browns die-hards in seeing a QB actually able to extend plays with his legs instead of throw bonehead picks at the wrong time. Not to piss on the Watson haters little parade and all, but name me any other Browns quarterback over the last thirty years that would have completed a 2nd-and-19 throw to WR Amari Cooper, or eluded a pass rush to scramble 10-plus yards for a clutch first down late in the fourth quarter?
Johnny Manziel, Brady Quinn, Tim Couch, Robert Griffin III, Vinny Testaverde, Bernie Kosar? Go ahead, I’ll wait.
It’s so sad and hypocritical that a fan base that seems to love and accept mediocrity and embrace the likes of Mayfield for “being one of them” and that he “gets us” would rather openly cheer for him over their own QB? Again, keeping this football related, can anyone dare justify giving Baker $35 million a year over Watson?
Watson is far from a saint off the field, but he could be the Browns post-season salvation on it. And at 6-3, with a chance to avenge Nick Chubb and knock off the hated Steelers in front of a loud and raucous Dawg Pound, that is all that should matter now.
Anyways, let’s enjoy this win and get ready for that team from the Steel City. A rare two-game win streak and in the thick of a very tight AFC playoff hunt. It is nice that for the first time in almost a generation that Cleveland is plating meaningful football going into the holidays for once, regardless of who is under center.