4 Bold Cleveland Browns predictions after Deshaun Watson trade
By John Suchan
Cleveland Browns bold prediction No. 3: Deshaun Watson leads them to top 10 in scoring
The Browns had a significant drop-off in scoring points a year ago. In the 2020 season, the team averaged 26.3 points a game. They made it to the playoffs and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the playoffs by scoring 48 points.
That season of firsts abruptly ended the next to go around as they collapsed with their scoring only reaching 20.5 points a game, which ended up being 20th overall and not good enough to get them back to the playoffs. That six-point difference in scoring average meant a three-game difference in wins when comparing the two seasons and it had a lot of us scratching our heads because the team was virtually the same makeup of players in both years.
The difference factor was quarterback Baker Mayfield, who struggled with injuries and the mental side of the game, lacking the confidence he’d shown in the previous season.
With Watson now taking over as the quarterback the Browns are going to score a lot more and be back in that top 10 rankings. In the last three seasons at Houston, Watson helped the team average over 24 points a game.
With the addition of a wide receiver like Amari Cooper to the Browns wide receiver room and the excellent other skilled position players like tight end David Njoku and the solid running back tandem of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, the team should easily surpass those 24 points a game average that Watson had with the Texans.