On Saturday in a big Week 15 AFC North divisional rival game, the Cleveland Browns will play host to the Baltimore Ravens. It will be the first time Deshaun Watson will be under center as the Browns quarterback in a home game. The fans have waited for this moment for a long time as Watson went through his almost year-long suspension from the NFL.
While Watson will be center stage for the afternoon, there are a couple of other Cleveland teammates that will be important to follow and if they can all play well, then the Browns should get the win and stay in the playoff conversation.
Cleveland Browns player to watch No. 3- Myles Garrett
It seems sometimes these days that Myles Garrett does more talking off the field and usually helps create more speculation and chaos within the team. It’s not exactly the leadership qualities you’re looking for.
This past week, during locker pressers with the local media, Garrett again threw his defensive coordinator Joe Woods under the bus or at least didn’t support his coordinator’s football decisions very well when he was asked questions about his coach’s future.
Myles Garrett was asked about the “Fire Joe Woods” chatter. pic.twitter.com/4e5rkwyhWd
— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) December 15, 2022
All season, Wood’s job security seems to be at the top of most conversations, and it doesn’t help for Wood’s sake when his players aren’t there to support him. How much of Woods’ being on the hot seat has to do with him not coaching well or rather his players not wanting to buy into a system?
The chances are much higher at this point in the season that Garrett is here next season and Woods is gone. Garrett has speculated for months that the coaching has been poor. This mix of toxic talk can’t bode well moving forward. The problem with Garrett in all of this mess is that he’s been here in Cleveland longer than any of his coaches and that has created a weird type of dynamic.
While he’s been the centerpiece of the defense for years, his teams have usually been terrible. It’s fair to ask what exactly Garrett has done in Cleveland other than put up some good individual numbers every season. His teams have played poorly and some of that blame needs to be put back on him (as the leader) and not solely on his coaches.
On Saturday it will be interesting to see what type of effort we see from Garrett. He has 12 sacks on the season and seemed more engaged in the activity on the field against the Cincinnati Bengals. He had two pass deflections and this part of his game seems to be a new art form he’s come to like. His pass deflection he had a couple of weeks ago, against the Houston Texans resulted in a Cleveland takeaway and helped lead to the victory.
Cleveland Browns player to watch No. 2-Donovan Peoples-Jones
Third-year wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones has put his stamp on the No. 2 spot due to a breakout season. There has been a lot of hype surrounding DPJ for a couple of years, and it’s now coming to fruition. When he made a game-winning catch in 2020 against the Bengals, it put pressure on the youngster from Michigan to produce — and he hadn’t really done that with consistency until now.
We wanted to know as well how Deshaun Watson would have an effect on the Cleveland wide receiving corps. For DPJ, that effect has had immediate results as he recorded the second 100-yard game of his career in the game against the Bengals last week. He went for 114 yards on a career-high eight receptions. He’s now sitting with 751 yards on 53 receptions and one touchdown. He has four games to reach the 1,000-yard mark and that feels attainable. He’s already passed his previous high of 597 yards, so that’s major progress even if he doesn’t hit that plateau.
DPJ still is on his rookie contract through next season, and he could be in line for a very attractive second deal — and keeping him in Cleveland should be a priority for the organization. With veteran Amari Cooper being the elder of the receiving corps and probably on the move again in a couple of seasons, DPJ could become that No. 1 guy in time.
So, watch on Saturday to see what he has in store against the Ravens. DPJ has produced decently against the rival in the past. He’s recorded 16 catches in four games for 245 yards. Earlier this year, he was targeted six times and caught all six for 71 yards in a narrow loss.
Cleveland Browns player to watch No. 1- Deshaun Watson
Finally, we discuss the man of the hour and the player that most Browns fans have been waiting to see play in a Cleveland uniform. While he’s started the last two games, this will be the first time fans in the Dawg Pound will be able to cheer on their new franchise quarterback in person.
The forecast for the game on Saturday calls for cold weather. It’ll be a little different for Watson who has been used to playing in warmer climates like Houston or South Carolina.
How he performs in the elements will be interesting to watch and while he should be able to play well, there could be some getting used to the new home conditions down at First Energy Stadium.
He did show some improvement from his first week’s action to last week’s game in Cincinnati. He will likely be very excited to play well in front of his home crowd and I’d expect to see a few big play attempts early in this matchup. That’s even more likely since the Ravens’ secondary has been suspect this season.
With only four games remaining, Watson getting as many opportunities as possible to run this offensive will be important. He hasn’t been able to have a big game with Amari Cooper either up to this point, so I see that as another point of emphasis this weekend.
It should be a close game between these two divisional rivals. In their first meeting, the Ravens were able to hold on and beat the Browns 23-20. This game could be much of the same and it’ll be worth watching to see how Garrett, DPJ, and Watson do.
3 storylines to watch as Browns try and clip Ravens
The Cleveland Browns took a loss in Week 14 and now will look to bounce back against the Ravens. Here are three storylines to watch.