The Cleveland Browns waited 12 weeks to have Deshaun Watson start as their quarterback. Now that he’s here, the team is still struggling.
For the first 11 weeks of the 2022 season, many fans were just waiting for Deshaun Watson to return and be the Cleveland Browns savior. And while there’s still time for him to become that, the struggles still exist on this team.
His first week of playing did result in a win but let’s not forget that special teams and the defense scored three touchdowns in that game and Watson was less than impressive with just over 130 yards passing. He looked substantially better in his second game against the Bengals, but unfortunately, the defense caved and put the team in too big of a hole in the second half.
I don’t think the time to panic is now, but here are three reasons the Browns are still struggling even though Watson is now the starting quarterback.
Browns Reason for Struggling No. 3: Rust
If you are anything like me, the stat of the day vs. the Houston Texans was the 700-plus days that it had been since Watson took a snap as a starting quarterback in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns knew they were inheriting a player who had been shelved up, but I am not sure they expected as much rust as we have seen thus far.
Watson looked extremely uncomfortable in the pocket for most of the game vs. the Texans, and it wasn’t a whole lot better vs. the Bengals. He did improve in getting his feet square in the second game which helped him avoid all the throws that were extremely short like in his first start.
Again, no reason to panic, but at this point, the remainder of the 2022 season should be used to knock off the rust for Watson. Unfortunately, the team has nothing to gain with the Texans owning their first-round pick for the next two years but getting Watson time on the field and seeing some young guys play will be beneficial.
Browns Reason for Struggling No. 2: Struggles at key positions
I have been harping on this for a few weeks now, but the Cleveland Browns roster continues to be overvalued in many positions. And while they have a couple of big names at offensive tackle, they have struggled mightily the first two weeks with Watson as the quarterback.
Jedrick Wills has always been inconsistent, but Jack Conklin has had his worst stretch of four games as a starter with the Browns. Not only has Watson been adjusting to the speed of the game after not playing for so long, but he is also doing it with a ton of pressure. The Bengals all but dared the Browns to beat them deep blitzing five plus guys on a ton of snaps and getting pressure every single time.
Conklin will likely be gone after this season with his contract up, but Wills will likely get one more shot. Watson is extremely athletic, but there is only so much he can do with instant pressure at the snap of the ball.
Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones have both had great seasons, but it is worth noting the depth after them is extremely weak. This group is also not used to playing with a guy like Watson and finding ways to get open when a play breaks down. This will improve with time but is certainly holding the team back at the moment.
Browns Reason for Struggling No. 1: Deshaun Watson cannot play defense
At the end of the day, Watson can’t play defense for Cleveland and that continues to be the biggest question mark. I’ll give credit where due and admit they have been better, but the bar was very low after being atrocious for the first eight weeks of the season.
Teams have utilized the quick passing game to take Myles Garrett and Jadeveon Clowney out of the picture, and they’ve continued to run at will on this defense, especially up the middle. Injuries have devastated this team at linebacker, and both starting cornerbacks have missed multiple games as well.
There is a huge push for Joe Woods to be fired, but the core of this unit has been in place for two to three years now with the same result. I’m not saying a change of voice wouldn’t help the defense, but we need to be careful about who we point fingers at. Both Garrett and Denzel Ward, who are the supposable leaders of this team, have struggled to take any accountability this season.
Unfortunately, Andrew Berry has a good chunk of money tied up in this defense, but it will certainly need some attention this offseason to correct some of the issues. A true deep half-safety and run-stuffing defensive tackle would be a great start, but there are plenty of other holes as well.
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